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The six seats on the LD by-election watch list – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 11,002
edited September 2022 in General
The six seats on the LD by-election watch list – politicalbetting.com

NEW: After Surrey Heath excitement, five more seats where the Lib Dems are getting ready for potential by-elections.— Tamworth— Uxbridge— NE Somerset— Mid Beds— Selby & Ainsty pic.twitter.com/OSqBTwg2aA

Read the full story here

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Comments

  • TazTaz Posts: 10,701
    "Winning Here"
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    Interesting, what about Beer Stormer ?
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    What happened to the LD candidate in Surrey Heath?

    https://www.markpack.org.uk/169542/alasdair-pinkerton-selected-by-lib-dems-in-michael-goves-constituency/

    They’ve re-opened the position, less than two months later.
  • logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,669
    Off Topic. Demand For Solar Explodes Everywhere In Europe Except The UK
    "Sean O’Neill, a senior reporter for The Times, wrote that the pair are “displaying staggering ignorance” and “pandering to the whingeing nimbys in their tiny electorate.” In the Daily Telegraph, the paper’s chief city commentator Ben Marlow wrote, “Britain’s culture wars have reached such epically absurd proportions that even the sun is now the enemy.”
    https://cleantechnica.com/2022/08/27/demand-for-solar-explodes-everywhere-in-europe-except-the-uk/
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,761
    Well it gives the Lib Dems something better to do than talk about Ed Davey's plans for energy and his pride in having stopped us having even a modest increase in domestic gas supply.
  • Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.
  • logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,669
    Sandpit said:

    What happened to the LD candidate in Surrey Heath?

    https://www.markpack.org.uk/169542/alasdair-pinkerton-selected-by-lib-dems-in-michael-goves-constituency/

    They’ve re-opened the position, less than two months later.

    Isn't that what usually happens in high profile By-Elections regardless of party?
  • TazTaz Posts: 10,701

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    But she is offering hope as well, it is hope, not handouts, from Liz.
  • TazTaz Posts: 10,701

    Off Topic. Demand For Solar Explodes Everywhere In Europe Except The UK
    "Sean O’Neill, a senior reporter for The Times, wrote that the pair are “displaying staggering ignorance” and “pandering to the whingeing nimbys in their tiny electorate.” In the Daily Telegraph, the paper’s chief city commentator Ben Marlow wrote, “Britain’s culture wars have reached such epically absurd proportions that even the sun is now the enemy.”
    https://cleantechnica.com/2022/08/27/demand-for-solar-explodes-everywhere-in-europe-except-the-uk/

    Talking of barking NIMBYs

    https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-11152023/Surrey-challenge-determine-future-British-energy-exploration.html
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
  • ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,761

    Off Topic. Demand For Solar Explodes Everywhere In Europe Except The UK
    "Sean O’Neill, a senior reporter for The Times, wrote that the pair are “displaying staggering ignorance” and “pandering to the whingeing nimbys in their tiny electorate.” In the Daily Telegraph, the paper’s chief city commentator Ben Marlow wrote, “Britain’s culture wars have reached such epically absurd proportions that even the sun is now the enemy.”
    https://cleantechnica.com/2022/08/27/demand-for-solar-explodes-everywhere-in-europe-except-the-uk/

    Solar is currently producing 16% of our total energy, a bit more than wind.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,449

    Off Topic. Demand For Solar Explodes Everywhere In Europe Except The UK
    "Sean O’Neill, a senior reporter for The Times, wrote that the pair are “displaying staggering ignorance” and “pandering to the whingeing nimbys in their tiny electorate.” In the Daily Telegraph, the paper’s chief city commentator Ben Marlow wrote, “Britain’s culture wars have reached such epically absurd proportions that even the sun is now the enemy.”
    https://cleantechnica.com/2022/08/27/demand-for-solar-explodes-everywhere-in-europe-except-the-uk/

    If the Sun wanted to stay out of the culture wars they should not have introduced their page seven fellas after claims the page three girls were somehow sexist.
  • ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    This really is the winter of hell. And we still have to suffer wazzock Tory MPs sneering at anyone who isn't them or thinks there are genuine problems they aren't engaged in. This country is falling apart at the seams with the ability to do the fucking basics lost.
  • MISTYMISTY Posts: 1,594
    edited August 2022
    From that clean techica article

    ''For now, Germany has resorted to firing up its coal power plants to reduce its gas consumption, and ensure the country keeps the lights on, but chancellor Olaf Scholz has made it clear the government isn’t happy about it. “It is bitter that we now have to temporarily use some power plants that we had already shut down because of Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine. But it’s only for a little while,” he said last month.''


    So in other words the main thrust of that article is titanic bullsh*t.

    Presumably the author would be happy if Liz re-opened the South Wales coalfield and Didcot Power station, as long as she said it was 'temporary and she wasn't 'happy about it'

  • LDLFLDLF Posts: 143
    edited August 2022
    In the 2019 election, the Lib Dems came a fairly distant third in Uxbridge, while a pretty respectable second was achieved by the Labour candidate (who, as was customary at the time, had in the past said some rather curious things about Israel, so doubly impressive there on his party's part).

    Is Uxbridge the sort of seat that could go Lib Dem in a by-election, but which they should expect to lose to one of the bigger parties in the next General Election?

    Or, with a view to the much-vaunted 'progressive alliance', should they just go slow in Uxbridge to let Labour win?
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 7,160

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    This really is the winter of hell. And we still have to suffer wazzock Tory MPs sneering at anyone who isn't them or thinks there are genuine problems they aren't engaged in. This country is falling apart at the seams with the ability to do the fucking basics lost.
    Jacob Rees Mogg as energy secretary will solve everything )))))))))))))))))))

  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 5,414
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    i don’t think you even need to use the words “in education”.

    The only people (relatively) immune from the difficulties of this winter will be those on high professional salaries with no dependents. Even then they will encounter some inconvenience from the knock-on effects.
  • ClippPClippP Posts: 1,667
    If the Lib Dems have decided to change their candidate this quickly, ahead of a possible byelection in Surrey Heath, then it does suggest that the rumours about Gove's throwing in the sponge could be well founded.

    And if a byelection there took place at the same time as one in Uxbridge, I suspect that the Lib Dems would concentrate heavily on just one of them.
  • ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    This really is the winter of hell. And we still have to suffer wazzock Tory MPs sneering at anyone who isn't them or thinks there are genuine problems they aren't engaged in. This country is falling apart at the seams with the ability to do the fucking basics lost.
    Jacob Rees Mogg as energy secretary will solve everything )))))))))))))))))))

    All schools to be fitted with a large treadmill. Students to walk the treadmill to provide both clean electricity and self-heating.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,263
    ClippP said:

    If the Lib Dems have decided to change their candidate this quickly, ahead of a possible byelection in Surrey Heath, then it does suggest that the rumours about Gove's throwing in the sponge could be well founded.

    And if a byelection there took place at the same time as one in Uxbridge, I suspect that the Lib Dems would concentrate heavily on just one of them.

    And vice versa for Labour.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    i don’t think you even need to use the words “in education”.

    The only people (relatively) immune from the difficulties of this winter will be those on high professional salaries with no dependents. Even then they will encounter some inconvenience from the knock-on effects.
    Like me? Not that I have a salary.

    I say again incidentally that with things as they stand it's very very hard to see 90% of private schools making it to Christmas. Either they will have to push their fees to astronomical levels, or they will run out of cash within hours of turning the heating on.

    And what happens to their pupils then?

    And yes, I take your point on 'in education.' How do hospitals cope?
  • DynamoDynamo Posts: 651
    edited August 2022
    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her.

    No flies on you, Vern.

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    I don't think they're trying to inconvenience Truss particularly. They're trying to poke Johnson in the eye.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    Taz said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    But she is offering hope as well, it is hope, not handouts, from Liz.
    It's a good summary of where we are as a nation in regards to energy.
    This month she was granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. A hearing is expected next year.
    So even if her case is dismissed then the entire process has been put back 6 months minimum or so. Lawyerocracy UK.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    edited August 2022

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    Pulpstar said:

    Taz said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    But she is offering hope as well, it is hope, not handouts, from Liz.
    It's a good summary of where we are as a nation in regards to energy.
    This month she was granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. A hearing is expected next year.
    So even if her case is dismissed then the entire process has been put back 6 months minimum or so. Lawyerocracy UK.
    "Onshore wind has traditionally been the cheapest form of energy and you can get that up and running in about a year," Melanie Onn of Renewable UK told BBC News.

    "We're not doing that at the moment because the planning process allows for a single person to object to an onshore wind farm and that closes the whole thing down, so we really need the government to take action and put our country's energy needs first."

    Again NIMBY/lawyerocracy restricting our energy. Same story for nuclear and solar.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    edited August 2022
    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her?

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    It's like that reality where this didn't happen:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 *

    So the Cold War in the 1980s was Not A Thing.

    *what an unfortunate name for a mass killing involving international diplomacy, by the way.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    Pulpstar said:

    Taz said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    But she is offering hope as well, it is hope, not handouts, from Liz.
    It's a good summary of where we are as a nation in regards to energy.
    This month she was granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. A hearing is expected next year.
    So even if her case is dismissed then the entire process has been put back 6 months minimum or so. Lawyerocracy UK.
    Er...who is 'she' and what has she been given permission to appeal?
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her.

    No flies on you, Vern.

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    I don't think they're trying to inconvenience Truss particularly. They're trying to poke Johnson in the eye.

    Very very bad point, because for Ford's inauguration "Chief Justice Burger was traveling in the Netherlands at the time, and was flown back to Washington, D.C., on an Air Force plane."

    Chief Justice Burger was of course called Royale on his NL trip, though this doesn't affect the monarchy point.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 11,182
    O/T: We’ve talked in the past about the potential for local authorities to act as a developer in order to deliver private houses as a way of developing the sorts of streets in wants, rather than the sorts of streets which are easy to deliver and sell at a profit but which do not necessarily optimise the use of land. Personally, I’m in the ‘agnostic, but interested’ camp. Anyway, the development at the top of this list looks very much like this sort of approach:
    https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/manchesters-debut-this-city-project-up-for-approval/
  • Betfair next prime minister
    1.05 Liz Truss 95%
    17.5 Rishi Sunak 6%

    Next Conservative leader
    1.05 Liz Truss 95%
    18 Rishi Sunak 6%
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    ydoethur said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Taz said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    But she is offering hope as well, it is hope, not handouts, from Liz.
    It's a good summary of where we are as a nation in regards to energy.
    This month she was granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. A hearing is expected next year.
    So even if her case is dismissed then the entire process has been put back 6 months minimum or so. Lawyerocracy UK.
    Er...who is 'she' and what has she been given permission to appeal?
    My bad that got completely mangled

    https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-11152023/Surrey-challenge-determine-future-British-energy-exploration.html

    Should have been a reply to Taz's other post
  • glwglw Posts: 9,535
    ydoethur said:

    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her?

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    It's like that reality where this didn't happen:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 *

    So the Cold War in the 1980s was Not A Thing.

    *what an unfortunate name for a mass killing involving international diplomacy, by the way.
    I've read some odd opinions on here over the years, but the idea that the Cold War was over before the 1980s may take the biscuit.
  • 148grss148grss Posts: 3,630
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    What's the Pratchett joke - "There is a saying: It won't get better if you picket."

    I would say that we are getting to a place where I can't see how it gets any better unless people kick off. Unless Truss is the perfect Manchurian candidate, trained from birth to get to the seat of power to only then unleash her lefty republican side, and this leadership campaign is all part of the act - we're beyond buggered. The numbers of people who already use food banks, or choose between heating and eating is unacceptable, that number will surge beyond belief. And after people showed that they were willing to do lockdown to save nan and grandad, they won't be happy for them to die in a cold snap because they couldn't afford to turn the heating on without taking money out against the house.

    I've heard some civil servants I know say that relief will have to happen - that Truss will see the reports and the analysis and just not be able to do anything but - and I still don't see it.
  • DynamoDynamo Posts: 651
    edited August 2022
    glw said:

    ydoethur said:

    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her?

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    It's like that reality where this didn't happen:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 *

    So the Cold War in the 1980s was Not A Thing.

    *what an unfortunate name for a mass killing involving international diplomacy, by the way.
    I've read some odd opinions on here over the years, but the idea that the Cold War was over before the 1980s may take the biscuit.
    You're just ignorant.

    Read some books about it.

    Find me ONE respected author, academic, or politician writing in the mid-1980s who thought the "Cold War" was still going on.

    When "Détente" was the thing in the early 1970s, do you think everyone thought it was a stage in the Cold War?

    These are words, by the way. I'm talking about how words have been used, and how a word use has changed completely, with the previous use being squashed down the memory hole. And I'm totally right about this.
  • MISTYMISTY Posts: 1,594

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    We can look forward to the price of electricity coming down soon then.....
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835
    DBS update. Had long meeting with senior honcho in supply agency today. My current situation (stalled at 40 days at Stage Four) total wait longer, is "not unusual at all". One person has been waiting since February.
    Literally dozens of prospective staff ready and willing to start, and still many vacancies.
    Term begins Tuesday here.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,540
    Not just France & Germany:

    Belgium comes out against an EU-wide visa ban for Russian tourists.

    Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib says the country is against "indiscriminate measures” against Russians.

    Before being appointed as FM, Ms Lahbib visited Crimea and said she had been “in Russia”.


    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1564946492913229824

  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    edited August 2022
    ydoethur said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Taz said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    But she is offering hope as well, it is hope, not handouts, from Liz.
    It's a good summary of where we are as a nation in regards to energy.
    This month she was granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. A hearing is expected next year.
    So even if her case is dismissed then the entire process has been put back 6 months minimum or so. Lawyerocracy UK.
    Er...who is 'she' and what has she been given permission to appeal?
    If you want a laugh, here's the guys who bought UKOG at north of 100p. Now 0.087.

    https://www.lse.co.uk/ShareChat.asp?ShareTicker=UKOG&share=Uk-Oil-and-Gas
  • jamesdoylejamesdoyle Posts: 633
    Sandpit said:

    What happened to the LD candidate in Surrey Heath?

    https://www.markpack.org.uk/169542/alasdair-pinkerton-selected-by-lib-dems-in-michael-goves-constituency/

    They’ve re-opened the position, less than two months later.

    LibDem rules require a new selection for a by-election regardless of whether a candidate (for a future general election) has been adopted or not - but if there is such a candidate, they automatically get on the shortlist if they want to.
    So it's not re-opening the position - it's taking sensible action to make sure they have a candidate who can devote the time and energy to a high-profile by-election campaign, and withstand the accompanying media scrutiny.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 7,160
    148grss said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    What's the Pratchett joke - "There is a saying: It won't get better if you picket."

    I would say that we are getting to a place where I can't see how it gets any better unless people kick off. Unless Truss is the perfect Manchurian candidate, trained from birth to get to the seat of power to only then unleash her lefty republican side, and this leadership campaign is all part of the act - we're beyond buggered. The numbers of people who already use food banks, or choose between heating and eating is unacceptable, that number will surge beyond belief. And after people showed that they were willing to do lockdown to save nan and grandad, they won't be happy for them to die in a cold snap because they couldn't afford to turn the heating on without taking money out against the house.

    I've heard some civil servants I know say that relief will have to happen - that Truss will see the reports and the analysis and just not be able to do anything but - and I still don't see it.
    If the campaign for leader has taught us anything, it’s that Truss will U-turn at the drop of a hat. Let us hope she will continue this tradition.
  • jamesdoylejamesdoyle Posts: 633
    DavidL said:

    Off Topic. Demand For Solar Explodes Everywhere In Europe Except The UK
    "Sean O’Neill, a senior reporter for The Times, wrote that the pair are “displaying staggering ignorance” and “pandering to the whingeing nimbys in their tiny electorate.” In the Daily Telegraph, the paper’s chief city commentator Ben Marlow wrote, “Britain’s culture wars have reached such epically absurd proportions that even the sun is now the enemy.”
    https://cleantechnica.com/2022/08/27/demand-for-solar-explodes-everywhere-in-europe-except-the-uk/

    Solar is currently producing 16% of our total energy, a bit more than wind.
    Which is why we should be developing more solar and wind, and not wasting time on fossil fuel.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 10,341
    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her.

    No flies on you, Vern.

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    I don't think they're trying to inconvenience Truss particularly. They're trying to poke Johnson in the eye.

    But we are not a presidency, a system which has its own costs too. We are a constitutional parliamentary democratic monarchy state in the UK. As this has been continuously evolving for 1200 years + and serves us overall quite well, and has huge popular support too, a few extra journeys to and from Scotland from London, adding to the tens of millions done annually, are worth it.

    People make that journey to go to a wedding. Isn't it worth it to make a constitutional PM? And why shouldn't a direct descendent of Mary Queen of Scots perform this act in Scotland?

    NB That is not to support Mrs T who I fear will be terrible.

  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614

    Sandpit said:

    What happened to the LD candidate in Surrey Heath?

    https://www.markpack.org.uk/169542/alasdair-pinkerton-selected-by-lib-dems-in-michael-goves-constituency/

    They’ve re-opened the position, less than two months later.

    LibDem rules require a new selection for a by-election regardless of whether a candidate (for a future general election) has been adopted or not - but if there is such a candidate, they automatically get on the shortlist if they want to.
    So it's not re-opening the position - it's taking sensible action to make sure they have a candidate who can devote the time and energy to a high-profile by-election campaign, and withstand the accompanying media scrutiny.
    Thanks for that. It just seemed rather surprising, especially when the by-election is still very much theoretical at this stage!
  • ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    i don’t think you even need to use the words “in education”.

    The only people (relatively) immune from the difficulties of this winter will be those on high professional salaries with no dependents. Even then they will encounter some inconvenience from the knock-on effects.
    Like me? Not that I have a salary.

    I say again incidentally that with things as they stand it's very very hard to see 90% of private schools making it to Christmas. Either they will have to push their fees to astronomical levels, or they will run out of cash within hours of turning the heating on.

    And what happens to their pupils then?

    And yes, I take your point on 'in education.' How do hospitals cope?
    Badly. Though I suspect there are a few more automatic stablisers in the health system- waiting lists, if nothing else.

    (What's the mechanism if a MAT goes bust? Some of them must be insanely close to the brink.)

    The bigger questions are about what happens after this. First off, is this the "face down in the gutter" moment that forces the UK to ask difficult questions of its choices over the last few decades? It's been coming for a while, but there's been a lot of can-kicking.

    Slightly more alarmingly, what answers will be proffered to those questions? One set will be Left-of-centrist Dad, but what will the counterpart look like? Obviously Cameron, May and Johnson weren't Proper Tories, but I hate to imagine what "Truss failed by being insufficiently right-wing" will look like.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,941
    MISTY said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    We can look forward to the price of electricity coming down soon then.....
    What fraction of energy usage does this represent?
  • MISTYMISTY Posts: 1,594

    DavidL said:

    Off Topic. Demand For Solar Explodes Everywhere In Europe Except The UK
    "Sean O’Neill, a senior reporter for The Times, wrote that the pair are “displaying staggering ignorance” and “pandering to the whingeing nimbys in their tiny electorate.” In the Daily Telegraph, the paper’s chief city commentator Ben Marlow wrote, “Britain’s culture wars have reached such epically absurd proportions that even the sun is now the enemy.”
    https://cleantechnica.com/2022/08/27/demand-for-solar-explodes-everywhere-in-europe-except-the-uk/

    Solar is currently producing 16% of our total energy, a bit more than wind.
    Which is why we should be developing more solar and wind, and not wasting time on fossil fuel.
    And the meantime what?
    Freeze to death?
    Live on insects?
    Accept a massive fall in living standards that will costs countless lives??
    Watch countries still using traditional power sources pass us economically while they p8ss themselves laughing?
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,540
    Dynamo said:

    glw said:

    ydoethur said:

    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her?

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    It's like that reality where this didn't happen:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 *

    So the Cold War in the 1980s was Not A Thing.

    *what an unfortunate name for a mass killing involving international diplomacy, by the way.
    I've read some odd opinions on here over the years, but the idea that the Cold War was over before the 1980s may take the biscuit.
    You're just ignorant.

    Read some books about it.

    Find me ONE respected author, academic, or politician writing in the mid-1980s who thought the "Cold War" was still going on……

    And I'm totally right about this.
    Would near nuclear war in 1983 count?

    https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-1983-military-drill-that-nearly-sparked-nuclear-war-with-the-soviets-180979980/
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,761

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    According to that article we have gone from 11% renewables to 40% in a decade and the proportion will increase significantly when Dogger Bank comes online next year. It really is a remarkable achievement for which the government gets almost no credit whatsoever.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 11,182
    RobD said:

    MISTY said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    We can look forward to the price of electricity coming down soon then.....
    What fraction of energy usage does this represent?
    Apparently it will produce enough electricity to power about 1.3 million homes (which the confusing BBC journalism describes as 'a city the size of Manchester' - does it mean the city of Manchester? Or does it mean Greater Manchester? In either case it is out by a factor of 2.)

    But 1.3 million homes is roughly 1/30th of the population of the country. And presumably business/industrial demand is - order of magnitude guess - about the same. So in the order of 1/60th of UK energy use?
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,941
    MISTY said:

    DavidL said:

    Off Topic. Demand For Solar Explodes Everywhere In Europe Except The UK
    "Sean O’Neill, a senior reporter for The Times, wrote that the pair are “displaying staggering ignorance” and “pandering to the whingeing nimbys in their tiny electorate.” In the Daily Telegraph, the paper’s chief city commentator Ben Marlow wrote, “Britain’s culture wars have reached such epically absurd proportions that even the sun is now the enemy.”
    https://cleantechnica.com/2022/08/27/demand-for-solar-explodes-everywhere-in-europe-except-the-uk/

    Solar is currently producing 16% of our total energy, a bit more than wind.
    Which is why we should be developing more solar and wind, and not wasting time on fossil fuel.
    And the meantime what?
    Freeze to death?
    Live on insects?
    Accept a massive fall in living standards that will costs countless lives??
    Watch countries still using traditional power sources pass us economically while they p8ss themselves laughing?
    In the mean time continue to use fossil fuels, of course. Many countries make do with a far lower reliance on fossil fuels. Quite why you think this isn't possible for the UK is beyond me.
  • MISTYMISTY Posts: 1,594
    DavidL said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    According to that article we have gone from 11% renewables to 40% in a decade and the proportion will increase significantly when Dogger Bank comes online next year. It really is a remarkable achievement for which the government gets almost no credit whatsoever.
    Jeez talk about rejoicing over tractor stats.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,941
    Cookie said:

    RobD said:

    MISTY said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    We can look forward to the price of electricity coming down soon then.....
    What fraction of energy usage does this represent?
    Apparently it will produce enough electricity to power about 1.3 million homes (which the confusing BBC journalism describes as 'a city the size of Manchester' - does it mean the city of Manchester? Or does it mean Greater Manchester? In either case it is out by a factor of 2.)

    But 1.3 million homes is roughly 1/30th of the population of the country. And presumably business/industrial demand is - order of magnitude guess - about the same. So in the order of 1/60th of UK energy use?
    So a reduction lost in the noise that is the current gas market.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Dynamo said:

    glw said:

    ydoethur said:

    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her?

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    It's like that reality where this didn't happen:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 *

    So the Cold War in the 1980s was Not A Thing.

    *what an unfortunate name for a mass killing involving international diplomacy, by the way.
    I've read some odd opinions on here over the years, but the idea that the Cold War was over before the 1980s may take the biscuit.
    You're just ignorant.

    Read some books about it.

    Find me ONE respected author, academic, or politician writing in the mid-1980s who thought the "Cold War" was still going on.

    When "Détente" was the thing in the early 1970s, do you think everyone thought it was a stage in the Cold War?

    These are words, by the way. I'm talking about how words have been used, and how a word use has changed completely, with the previous use being squashed down the memory hole. And I'm totally right about this.
    I think we were generally aware in the mid 80s that glasnost and perestroika had entered the chat and that it was justifiable to turn the doomsday clock back a couple of minutes. But that was just the beginning of the end. nobody doubts the end date of 1991.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,941
    MISTY said:

    DavidL said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    According to that article we have gone from 11% renewables to 40% in a decade and the proportion will increase significantly when Dogger Bank comes online next year. It really is a remarkable achievement for which the government gets almost no credit whatsoever.
    Jeez talk about rejoicing over tractor stats.
    I am rejoicing. Can you imaging electricity bills if gas constituted 90% of the energy mix?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    i don’t think you even need to use the words “in education”.

    The only people (relatively) immune from the difficulties of this winter will be those on high professional salaries with no dependents. Even then they will encounter some inconvenience from the knock-on effects.
    Like me? Not that I have a salary.

    I say again incidentally that with things as they stand it's very very hard to see 90% of private schools making it to Christmas. Either they will have to push their fees to astronomical levels, or they will run out of cash within hours of turning the heating on.

    And what happens to their pupils then?

    And yes, I take your point on 'in education.' How do hospitals cope?
    Boarding schools were built on cold showers and little heating, I am sure most will survive. The top ones of course like Eton and Winchester have fees of around £30,000 a year
  • FPT

    Sandpit said:

    "The economy is about to go to hell in a handcart, with hundreds of thousands of households reduced to penury and aggregate demand hammered by soaring energy bills, yet neither of the candidates has anything worthwhile to say about it."


    "The casualties are going to be off the scale if nothing is done."

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/08/30/tories-have-forgotten-how-do-serious-economics/

    Yet another hack totally ignoring the £37,000,000,000 in support, that’s already been announced by the government.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/energy-bills-support-scheme-explainer

    It’s fair to argue that it’s not enough, or that there’s no support yet for small businesses - but to ignore it completelty it totally disengenuous. We wonder why there’s so little trust in the media.
    The £37bn has unfortunately had a huge whiff of knee-jerkism about it. "Something must be done, shit! Let's bung a few £100 here and a few £100 there."

    I dread to think how much has been wasted in bureaucracy, with some being paid by DWP, some by councils and some via the energy companies... some as shopping vouchers ffs!

    Right at the start HMG should have just forced the price cap to remain at a level they decided was affordable, with similar support for those not covered by the price cap. Paid for by taxes on the wealthy to keep it progressive.

    Would have had the massive benefit of keeping inflation down.

    The other major failing of course has been failing to secure our energy security over many years (not just the Tories - Labour too). All this is the consequence of the neoliberal pursuit of 'the market rules' over every other consideration.
    Keeping the price cap down is a terrible, terrible idea.

    Do that and its "nice" politics, but it means that nobody cuts their fuel usage (as why bother) and so we have an energy shortage but no reduction in energy demand, so we have blackouts instead.

    I'm no fan of government support in general, but having the price rise but government support available as required is the lesser of two evils. It means people can be helped to afford the energy, but they will still be looking at the price and cutting their usage as much as possible, which is what is required.
    Yes but remember this is not a simple free market. The price of electricity is not determined by the scarcity of electricity but (now) by the cost of gas, which is artificially high owing to events elsewhere. As things stand, although of course they may change, there is no reason to cut electricity usage apart from to save money; there will not be rolling power cuts this week or next if you run the air conditioning and central heating simultaneously because we do not have a shortage of electricity; the price signal you rely on is (eta already) quite misleading.
    Eh? A shortage of gas means a shortage of electricity, since we are generating our electricity from gas.

    If we run out of gas, we run out of electricity, and we will run out of gas as a continent if we don't cut our usage, which means cutting electricity.
    Britain can't store gas and can't store electricity (or wind or sunshine) so cutting down now might save money but will not affect shortfalls during January's blizzards. Your price signal is misleading (at least for now).
    This is not true. Britain does not operate in a vacuum. We absolutely can and are storing gas, in Germany and elsewhere. The UK is exporting gas as fast as is possible to fill German and other storage facilities, so that during January's blizzards the storage is full and so less gas imports are required across the continent.

    Cutting down on your air conditioning today, means less gas consumed today, meaning more gas can be exported to Germany etc, which means more gets stored, which means more gas available for January.

    Its all connected. Which is why that's showing in the price signal.
    You think that in the midst of a particularly cold winter with Russian gas cut off the Germans are going to consider for one second re-exporting any of that gas to us? If their storage is full they have 10 weeks of supply with no Russian imports. Not sure we can assume they will want to reduce that by sending any to us, particularly if winter comes early.
    Will the German be re-exporting any of the exact gas we sent them back to us? No, probably not.

    Will our ensuring gas is stored in Germany etc boost our own security? Yes, 100%.

    If the Germans run out of gas, what do you think they'll do? They'll bid whatever they have to in order to buy it, eg from imports from the Danes etc that could have come to us instead, either driving up the price we have to pay or leaving us short on supply.

    If the Germans can rely upon storage as we've exported gas to them in the summer, then we can better rely upon the Danes etc to send gas to us instead of being outbid by Germany in the winter.

    Again, its all interconnected. The market is global/continental and ensuring our neighbours have reliable supplies helps ensure our neighbours aren't trying to outbid us for imports.

    Autarky is not going to help us when we have 6x the amount of imports as we do exports.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,731

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    TBF, Truss has also promised to "Unify the Conservative Party", so there's that...
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    i don’t think you even need to use the words “in education”.

    The only people (relatively) immune from the difficulties of this winter will be those on high professional salaries with no dependents. Even then they will encounter some inconvenience from the knock-on effects.
    Like me? Not that I have a salary.

    I say again incidentally that with things as they stand it's very very hard to see 90% of private schools making it to Christmas. Either they will have to push their fees to astronomical levels, or they will run out of cash within hours of turning the heating on.

    And what happens to their pupils then?

    And yes, I take your point on 'in education.' How do hospitals cope?
    Boarding schools were built on cold showers and little heating, I am sure most will survive. The top ones of course like Eton and Winchester have fees of around £30,000 a year
    £46,000
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    edited August 2022
    RobD said:

    MISTY said:

    DavidL said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    According to that article we have gone from 11% renewables to 40% in a decade and the proportion will increase significantly when Dogger Bank comes online next year. It really is a remarkable achievement for which the government gets almost no credit whatsoever.
    Jeez talk about rejoicing over tractor stats.
    I am rejoicing. Can you imaging electricity bills if gas constituted 90% of the energy mix?
    They'd be the same. The highest element, which is gas sets the price of the bill. Unless gas is completely eliminated from electricity production, or the algorithm changed that's how it's going to be for the forseeable future.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    dixiedean said:

    DBS update. Had long meeting with senior honcho in supply agency today. My current situation (stalled at 40 days at Stage Four) total wait longer, is "not unusual at all". One person has been waiting since February.
    Literally dozens of prospective staff ready and willing to start, and still many vacancies.
    Term begins Tuesday here.

    That’s madness. Really sorry to hear this.

    The last DBS I had done, for an American agency, came through in a fortnight. Mind, they had put the wrong address on it. Don’t know how as there isn’t even a Trafalgar Avenue in Cannock, but doesn’t speak well of efficiency somewhere.

  • kjhkjh Posts: 10,457
    OK I am going to post something that is probably ridiculously stupid so I await the responses ridiculing me (it will be along the lines of one of our more notorious posters in its simplicity, which is usually stupidly impossible). Particularly interested in @Richard_Tyndall's views.

    Firstly to state, as I have done before, I do not believe in windfall taxes or caps for private industries, but we are in exceptional and extraordinary times.

    Ideally we want to keep power supplies for both residents and business around what they were before the big hikes due the large increase in wholesale prices. Not just for hardship purposes, but to control inflation. We are faffing around with all sorts of schemes that will leave holes all over the place (particularly for businesses) and are very complex.

    Why not windfall tax the wholesale supplies equivalent to the difference in current commodity price over the more normal price they would have charged before the commodity price increased and pass that onto the retail suppliers so they are basing their retail prices on the previous normal price rather than the higher wholesale price they are paying.

    Suspect there are all sorts of flaws in that in terms of complexity and also issue with wholesale providers that aren't UK based.

    OK standing by for the flak.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,941
    edited August 2022
    Pulpstar said:

    RobD said:

    MISTY said:

    DavidL said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    According to that article we have gone from 11% renewables to 40% in a decade and the proportion will increase significantly when Dogger Bank comes online next year. It really is a remarkable achievement for which the government gets almost no credit whatsoever.
    Jeez talk about rejoicing over tractor stats.
    I am rejoicing. Can you imaging electricity bills if gas constituted 90% of the energy mix?
    They'd be the same. The highest element, which is gas sets the price of the bill. Unless gas is completely eliminated from electricity production, or the algorithm changed that's how it's going to be for the forseeable future.
    Gas is portable, electricity from solar/wind etc. less so. You just have to look at energy prices in countries that aren't dependent on gas. They've not gone up by nearly as much.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her.

    No flies on you, Vern.

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    I don't think they're trying to inconvenience Truss particularly. They're trying to poke Johnson in the eye.

    The Queen is hardly going to go out of her way to interrupt her summer break for a new PM most Tory MPs did not vote for and who even most Tory members would have preferred Badenoch to and who has not yet won a general election and on current polls is not likely to. The fact she is over 90 and not in the best of health for too frequent journeys only confirms that.

    Plus given Truss was a republican in her youth makes it clear to her from day 1 she is still Her Majesty's chief minister not a President
  • logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,669
    MISTY said:

    From that clean techica article

    ''For now, Germany has resorted to firing up its coal power plants to reduce its gas consumption, and ensure the country keeps the lights on, but chancellor Olaf Scholz has made it clear the government isn’t happy about it. “It is bitter that we now have to temporarily use some power plants that we had already shut down because of Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine. But it’s only for a little while,” he said last month.''


    So in other words the main thrust of that article is titanic bullsh*t.

    Presumably the author would be happy if Liz re-opened the South Wales coalfield and Didcot Power station, as long as she said it was 'temporary and she wasn't 'happy about it'

    Of course not.
    Losing 30% of their energy due to a war would make you take drastic actions. That's no reason to let up on transitioning to renewables (especially if you're in coalition with the Greens).
    Come on, use a little logic!
  • MISTYMISTY Posts: 1,594
    Pulpstar said:

    RobD said:

    MISTY said:

    DavidL said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    According to that article we have gone from 11% renewables to 40% in a decade and the proportion will increase significantly when Dogger Bank comes online next year. It really is a remarkable achievement for which the government gets almost no credit whatsoever.
    Jeez talk about rejoicing over tractor stats.
    I am rejoicing. Can you imaging electricity bills if gas constituted 90% of the energy mix?
    They'd be the same. The highest element, which is gas sets the price of the bill. Unless gas is completely eliminated from electricity production, or the algorithm changed that's how it's going to be for the forseeable future.
    As I understand it the government is trying to uncouple renewables from the system.
  • MISTYMISTY Posts: 1,594
    RobD said:

    Pulpstar said:

    RobD said:

    MISTY said:

    DavidL said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    According to that article we have gone from 11% renewables to 40% in a decade and the proportion will increase significantly when Dogger Bank comes online next year. It really is a remarkable achievement for which the government gets almost no credit whatsoever.
    Jeez talk about rejoicing over tractor stats.
    I am rejoicing. Can you imaging electricity bills if gas constituted 90% of the energy mix?
    They'd be the same. The highest element, which is gas sets the price of the bill. Unless gas is completely eliminated from electricity production, or the algorithm changed that's how it's going to be for the forseeable future.
    Gas is portable, electricity from solar/wind etc. less so. You just have to look at energy prices in countries that aren't dependent on gas. They've not gone up by nearly as much.
    example?
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    First world problem: wood pellets for furnaces are often used off label as horse bedding. £309 per tonne delivered in Feb, £589 a tonne now if you could get them at all, which you can't.
  • Question. Please tell me that Truss and Johnson are making *the same* trip to Balmoral. As in both on the same plane / helicopter.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,733
    Dynamo said:

    glw said:

    ydoethur said:

    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her?

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    It's like that reality where this didn't happen:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 *

    So the Cold War in the 1980s was Not A Thing.

    *what an unfortunate name for a mass killing involving international diplomacy, by the way.
    I've read some odd opinions on here over the years, but the idea that the Cold War was over before the 1980s may take the biscuit.
    You're just ignorant.

    Read some books about it.

    Find me ONE respected author, academic, or politician writing in the mid-1980s who thought the "Cold War" was still going on.

    When "Détente" was the thing in the early 1970s, do you think everyone thought it was a stage in the Cold War?

    These are words, by the way. I'm talking about how words have been used, and how a word use has changed completely, with the previous use being squashed down the memory hole. And I'm totally right about this.
    Robert Service
    Martin McCauley
    Mary MacAuley
    Geoffrey Hosking
    Alec Nove
    John Lewis Gaddis
    Jeremy Isaacs
    Mikhail Gorbachev
    Yuri Andropov
    Jimmy Carter
    Ronald Reagan
    George H. Bush (who declared the Cold War was over on New Year’s Eve 1991)
    Margaret Thatcher

    That’s without even making an effort.

    It’s ironic you accuse others of ignorance and not reading books when it’s clear you’ve not only not read any books at all but have no idea what you’re talking about.
  • Dynamo said:

    glw said:

    ydoethur said:

    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her?

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    It's like that reality where this didn't happen:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 *

    So the Cold War in the 1980s was Not A Thing.

    *what an unfortunate name for a mass killing involving international diplomacy, by the way.
    I've read some odd opinions on here over the years, but the idea that the Cold War was over before the 1980s may take the biscuit.
    You're just ignorant.

    Read some books about it.

    Find me ONE respected author, academic, or politician writing in the mid-1980s who thought the "Cold War" was still going on.

    When "Détente" was the thing in the early 1970s, do you think everyone thought it was a stage in the Cold War?

    These are words, by the way. I'm talking about how words have been used, and how a word use has changed completely, with the previous use being squashed down the memory hole. And I'm totally right about this.
    I have to say, I initially thought you were talking absolute nonsense, and then I looked up what people were saying in the relevant period.

    The invasion of Afghanistan shocked many people into realising that moderation had not been met with moderation. We have no wish to return to the so-called “cold war” of the early 1950s. It is not we who have imperial ambitions. We are not imposing our will on other countries by force of arms. We respect the sovereignty of others. We welcome the strong reassertion of this principle by the non-aligned movement in the wake of the invasion of Afghanistan. Margaret Thatcher, 16 April 1981

    A number of years ago, I heard a young father, a very prominent young man in the entertainment world, addressing a tremendous gathering in California. It was during the time of the Cold War, and communism and our own way of life were very much on people’s minds. And he was speaking to that subject. Ronald Reagan, 8 March 1983

    With that said, I understand entirely (and broadly support) the revision of the term "Cold War" to refer to the entire period of ideological conflict between Communism and democratic/capitalist powers, rather than just the early period. In the 1980s, they didn't have the benefit of hindsight to know they wouldn't need to use the term Third World War at any point.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    Question. Please tell me that Truss and Johnson are making *the same* trip to Balmoral. As in both on the same plane / helicopter.

    Just think if it crashed...
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,562
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    Not least our new PM and her coming lessons in economics.
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,152
    IshmaelZ said:

    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    i don’t think you even need to use the words “in education”.

    The only people (relatively) immune from the difficulties of this winter will be those on high professional salaries with no dependents. Even then they will encounter some inconvenience from the knock-on effects.
    Like me? Not that I have a salary.

    I say again incidentally that with things as they stand it's very very hard to see 90% of private schools making it to Christmas. Either they will have to push their fees to astronomical levels, or they will run out of cash within hours of turning the heating on.

    And what happens to their pupils then?

    And yes, I take your point on 'in education.' How do hospitals cope?
    Boarding schools were built on cold showers and little heating, I am sure most will survive. The top ones of course like Eton and Winchester have fees of around £30,000 a year
    £46,000
    Isn't that the energy price cap Q4 2023? 😡
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    IshmaelZ said:

    First world problem: wood pellets for furnaces are often used off label as horse bedding. £309 per tonne delivered in Feb, £589 a tonne now if you could get them at all, which you can't.

    Interesting, we don't use them for the nags but they're our preferred litter for our cats. Having to use that god awful clay stuff at the moment.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835
    ydoethur said:

    dixiedean said:

    DBS update. Had long meeting with senior honcho in supply agency today. My current situation (stalled at 40 days at Stage Four) total wait longer, is "not unusual at all". One person has been waiting since February.
    Literally dozens of prospective staff ready and willing to start, and still many vacancies.
    Term begins Tuesday here.

    That’s madness. Really sorry to hear this.

    The last DBS I had done, for an American agency, came through in a fortnight. Mind, they had put the wrong address on it. Don’t know how as there isn’t even a Trafalgar Avenue in Cannock, but doesn’t speak well of efficiency somewhere.

    Yes.
    To be re-assured I wasn't an outlier in the slightest was simultaneously both comforting and deeply disturbing.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    IshmaelZ said:

    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    i don’t think you even need to use the words “in education”.

    The only people (relatively) immune from the difficulties of this winter will be those on high professional salaries with no dependents. Even then they will encounter some inconvenience from the knock-on effects.
    Like me? Not that I have a salary.

    I say again incidentally that with things as they stand it's very very hard to see 90% of private schools making it to Christmas. Either they will have to push their fees to astronomical levels, or they will run out of cash within hours of turning the heating on.

    And what happens to their pupils then?

    And yes, I take your point on 'in education.' How do hospitals cope?
    Boarding schools were built on cold showers and little heating, I am sure most will survive. The top ones of course like Eton and Winchester have fees of around £30,000 a year
    £46,000
    Isn't that the energy price cap Q4 2023? 😡
    Yes, many working class families will be making the stark choice, hot food or Harrow?
  • kjhkjh Posts: 10,457
    IshmaelZ said:

    Question. Please tell me that Truss and Johnson are making *the same* trip to Balmoral. As in both on the same plane / helicopter.

    Just think if it crashed...
    Bank Holiday announced.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Ah yes, Reagan's Evil Empire speech of 1983. A true symbol that the Cold War was long over

    https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/reagan-evil-empire-speech-text/
  • 148grss148grss Posts: 3,630
    HYUFD said:

    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her.

    No flies on you, Vern.

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    I don't think they're trying to inconvenience Truss particularly. They're trying to poke Johnson in the eye.

    The Queen is hardly going to go out of her way to interrupt her summer break for a new PM most Tory MPs did not vote for and who even most Tory members would have preferred Badenoch to and who has not yet won a general election and on current polls is not likely to. The fact she is over 90 and not in the best of health for too frequent journeys only confirms that.

    Plus given Truss was a republican in her youth makes it clear to her from day 1 she is still Her Majesty's chief minister not a President
    If these were the reasons that the Queen isn't doing this, that seems like an even more important reason to be rid of the monarchy than the carbon footprint of keeping silly traditions.

    The idea that the monarch should be able to inconvenience an elected politician, because of their supposed lack of mandate or their political views, is absurd.

    I personally have some sympathy for a 90 yo who doesn't want to leave their house due to health issues; that describes my grandfather pretty well. But he also understood doing that meant giving up a lot of things he liked or wanted to do. Lizzie should abdicate, for herself, and for the country. Preferably there would be no new monarch and we could decide to be a republic, and leave the Windsor family with their favourite estate and nationalise the rest.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    edited August 2022
    MISTY said:

    Pulpstar said:

    RobD said:

    MISTY said:

    DavidL said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    According to that article we have gone from 11% renewables to 40% in a decade and the proportion will increase significantly when Dogger Bank comes online next year. It really is a remarkable achievement for which the government gets almost no credit whatsoever.
    Jeez talk about rejoicing over tractor stats.
    I am rejoicing. Can you imaging electricity bills if gas constituted 90% of the energy mix?
    They'd be the same. The highest element, which is gas sets the price of the bill. Unless gas is completely eliminated from electricity production, or the algorithm changed that's how it's going to be for the forseeable future.
    As I understand it the government is trying to uncouple renewables from the system.
    I don't see why this isn't doable yesterday. The Gov't will know the price and generation of CFDs
    https://www.emrsettlement.co.uk/about-emr/contracts-for-difference/
    https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/contracts-for-difference-cfd
    https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/sites/default/files/2020-09/LCCC Annual Report 2019-20.pdf

    they've sold - and hence the revenues from the generators as the wholesale price of electricity will be miles above the strike price.
    Just plug it all into an excel spreadsheet taking care to eliminate circular errors and hey presto a slightly cheaper electricity price.

    Unless I'm misunderstanding this isn't how it's done at the moment with the price simply being set by the final and most expensive element, gas.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 3,866
    IshmaelZ said:

    Question. Please tell me that Truss and Johnson are making *the same* trip to Balmoral. As in both on the same plane / helicopter.

    Just think if it crashed...
    There would be another leadership campaign and no government decisions made until about November. 😟
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,562

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    Around 5% of total UK grid capacity (when it's operating at full chat).
  • 148grss148grss Posts: 3,630

    Question. Please tell me that Truss and Johnson are making *the same* trip to Balmoral. As in both on the same plane / helicopter.

    I mean, it would make material sense, but I assume from a security point of view, they shouldn't? Should there be an incident, you would lose both the current and presumed PM in one fell swoop.
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    ydoethur said:

    dixiedean said:

    DBS update. Had long meeting with senior honcho in supply agency today. My current situation (stalled at 40 days at Stage Four) total wait longer, is "not unusual at all". One person has been waiting since February.
    Literally dozens of prospective staff ready and willing to start, and still many vacancies.
    Term begins Tuesday here.

    That’s madness. Really sorry to hear this.

    The last DBS I had done, for an American agency, came through in a fortnight. Mind, they had put the wrong address on it. Don’t know how as there isn’t even a Trafalgar Avenue in Cannock, but doesn’t speak well of efficiency somewhere.

    I take it this is @dixiedean's first DBS check - it's usually the case that the first one takes a long time, subsequent ones are more rapid because some of the work has already been done...
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,458
    edited August 2022
    148grss said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    What's the Pratchett joke - "There is a saying: It won't get better if you picket."

    I would say that we are getting to a place where I can't see how it gets any better unless people kick off. Unless Truss is the perfect Manchurian candidate, trained from birth to get to the seat of power to only then unleash her lefty republican side, and this leadership campaign is all part of the act - we're beyond buggered. The numbers of people who already use food banks, or choose between heating and eating is unacceptable, that number will surge beyond belief. And after people showed that they were willing to do lockdown to save nan and grandad, they won't be happy for them to die in a cold snap because they couldn't afford to turn the heating on without taking money out against the house.

    I've heard some civil servants I know say that relief will have to happen - that Truss will see the reports and the analysis and just not be able to do anything but - and I still don't see it.
    Yes. Even Tracy Horrobin in The Archers has just visited a food bank.

    That. Is. The End of Times.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Margaret Thatcher - Britain Awake Speech

    A clear indication of peace and reconciliation between east and west

    https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102939
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,562
    Pulpstar said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    Pulpstar said:

    Taz said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    But she is offering hope as well, it is hope, not handouts, from Liz.
    It's a good summary of where we are as a nation in regards to energy.
    This month she was granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. A hearing is expected next year.
    So even if her case is dismissed then the entire process has been put back 6 months minimum or so. Lawyerocracy UK.
    "Onshore wind has traditionally been the cheapest form of energy and you can get that up and running in about a year," Melanie Onn of Renewable UK told BBC News.

    "We're not doing that at the moment because the planning process allows for a single person to object to an onshore wind farm and that closes the whole thing down, so we really need the government to take action and put our country's energy needs first."

    Again NIMBY/lawyerocracy restricting our energy. Same story for nuclear and solar.
    Well, also government regulation, which limits turbine size onshore.
    And while you wouldn't build as high as offshore, even if unregulated, there would otherwise be quite a bit of headroom.
  • 148grss said:

    Question. Please tell me that Truss and Johnson are making *the same* trip to Balmoral. As in both on the same plane / helicopter.

    I mean, it would make material sense, but I assume from a security point of view, they shouldn't? Should there be an incident, you would lose both the current and presumed PM in one fell swoop.
    What if due a navigation error the aircraft of one crashes into the aircraft of the other. Anyone thought of that?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835
    edited August 2022
    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    dixiedean said:

    DBS update. Had long meeting with senior honcho in supply agency today. My current situation (stalled at 40 days at Stage Four) total wait longer, is "not unusual at all". One person has been waiting since February.
    Literally dozens of prospective staff ready and willing to start, and still many vacancies.
    Term begins Tuesday here.

    That’s madness. Really sorry to hear this.

    The last DBS I had done, for an American agency, came through in a fortnight. Mind, they had put the wrong address on it. Don’t know how as there isn’t even a Trafalgar Avenue in Cannock, but doesn’t speak well of efficiency somewhere.

    I take it this is @dixiedean's first DBS check - it's usually the case that the first one takes a long time, subsequent ones are more rapid because some of the work has already been done...
    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    dixiedean said:

    DBS update. Had long meeting with senior honcho in supply agency today. My current situation (stalled at 40 days at Stage Four) total wait longer, is "not unusual at all". One person has been waiting since February.
    Literally dozens of prospective staff ready and willing to start, and still many vacancies.
    Term begins Tuesday here.

    That’s madness. Really sorry to hear this.

    The last DBS I had done, for an American agency, came through in a fortnight. Mind, they had put the wrong address on it. Don’t know how as there isn’t even a Trafalgar Avenue in Cannock, but doesn’t speak well of efficiency somewhere.

    I take it this is @dixiedean's first DBS check - it's usually the case that the first one takes a long time, subsequent ones are more rapid because some of the work has already been done...
    Nope. Far from it.
    Have had numerous ones.
    Have lived in the same Police Authority ever since and moved house once.
    The stage I am stuck at, for forty days and counting is the one where they check the Police computer for any criminal record or other breach (which I don't have).
    The administration, ID, List 99 has all been done.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 11,182
    Nigelb said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    Around 5% of total UK grid capacity (when it's operating at full chat).
    Ooh - my estimate wasn't too far off!
  • glwglw Posts: 9,535
    edited August 2022
    Dynamo said:

    You're just ignorant.

    Read some books about it.

    Find me ONE respected author, academic, or politician writing in the mid-1980s who thought the "Cold War" was still going on.

    When "Détente" was the thing in the early 1970s, do you think everyone thought it was a stage in the Cold War?

    These are words, by the way. I'm talking about how words have been used, and how a word use has changed completely, with the previous use being squashed down the memory hole. And I'm totally right about this.

    You appear to be making a pedantic argument that the Cold War ended with the Cuban missile crisis and direct US involvement in the Vietnam War. i.e. It was no longer cold, although some might argue it ended with the Korean War.

    We are talking about the Cold War in the context of Gorbachev's death, you would surely realise that most people, like 99% of them, consider the Cold War to be the period from the end of the Second World War to the disolution of the USSR.

    Yes the meaning has changed, because events moved on, and most people recognise the continuity of the rivalry of the super powers, even if the termperature of that rivalry varied at times.
  • I wonder if I am free on Tuesday? Go stand outside the gate at Balmoral with a jaunty banner. Perhaps with one of Leon's AI images on.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,562
    glw said:

    ydoethur said:

    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her?

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    It's like that reality where this didn't happen:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 *

    So the Cold War in the 1980s was Not A Thing.

    *what an unfortunate name for a mass killing involving international diplomacy, by the way.
    I've read some odd opinions on here over the years, but the idea that the Cold War was over before the 1980s may take the biscuit.
    Especially since the world came as close as its ever been (probably) to all-out nuclear war in 1983.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,458
    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Reading stuff on a couple of friends WhatsApp groups that their schools in England are in deep shit. Expecting big problems with kids coming in cold with no money for lunch. And their own energy bills creating a crisis of how they stay open

    And up here? My son's academy is talking about a three-day week. Which just sends kids home where they won't get heated either.

    A sneering "I'm not giving out handouts to the workshy" will not cut it.

    I'm so glad it isn't my problem. I really do feel I got out at the right moment.
    Mrs RP and her colleagues look likely to strike. They accept that there are bigger budget issues for the LA, but their three parts of fuck all salary needs to increase to more than the proposed 3.0002 parts of fuck all.
    I don't blame them, but that will make all problems much worse.

    I think this year in education is going to be absolute chaos. On all levels, for everyone.
    i don’t think you even need to use the words “in education”.

    The only people (relatively) immune from the difficulties of this winter will be those on high professional salaries with no dependents. Even then they will encounter some inconvenience from the knock-on effects.
    Like me? Not that I have a salary.

    I say again incidentally that with things as they stand it's very very hard to see 90% of private schools making it to Christmas. Either they will have to push their fees to astronomical levels, or they will run out of cash within hours of turning the heating on.

    And what happens to their pupils then?

    And yes, I take your point on 'in education.' How do hospitals cope?
    Boarding schools were built on cold showers and little heating, I am sure most will survive. The top ones of course like Eton and Winchester have fees of around £30,000 a year
    That should be enough for hot showers, surely?
  • 148grss148grss Posts: 3,630
    Pulpstar said:

    MISTY said:

    Pulpstar said:

    RobD said:

    MISTY said:

    DavidL said:

    The world's largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923.amp

    According to that article we have gone from 11% renewables to 40% in a decade and the proportion will increase significantly when Dogger Bank comes online next year. It really is a remarkable achievement for which the government gets almost no credit whatsoever.
    Jeez talk about rejoicing over tractor stats.
    I am rejoicing. Can you imaging electricity bills if gas constituted 90% of the energy mix?
    They'd be the same. The highest element, which is gas sets the price of the bill. Unless gas is completely eliminated from electricity production, or the algorithm changed that's how it's going to be for the forseeable future.
    As I understand it the government is trying to uncouple renewables from the system.
    I don't see why this isn't doable yesterday. The Gov't will know the price and generation of CFDs
    https://www.emrsettlement.co.uk/about-emr/contracts-for-difference/
    https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/contracts-for-difference-cfd
    https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/sites/default/files/2020-09/LCCC Annual Report 2019-20.pdf

    they've sold - and hence the revenues from the generators as the wholesale price of electricity will be miles above the strike price.
    Just plug it all into an excel spreadsheet taking care to eliminate circular errors and hey presto a slightly cheaper electricity price.

    Unless I'm misunderstanding this isn't how it's done at the moment with the price simply being set by the final and most expensive element, gas.
    Yeah, I'm with Octopus for my electricity and they are often emailing saying they're sorry prices are going up when they get their energy from 100% renewables because of the way market prices work. It must be said though, I got solar panels during lockdown and I've already had a few months this year where the amount they made paid that month's cost on the panels - which when I bought them was not likely to be a thing for a decade.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 47,786

    I wonder if I am free on Tuesday? Go stand outside the gate at Balmoral with a jaunty banner. Perhaps with one of Leon's AI images on.

    I'm sure if you phoned the palace they'd say, "See you next Tuesday."
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 38,847

    Dynamo said:

    glw said:

    ydoethur said:

    Dynamo said:

    Gotta love this from Vernon Bogdanor CBE:

    "There is no constitutional reason why the new PM should not be appointed in Balmoral. Indeed, some might think it pointless for the Queen at her age to travel to London for a purely formal ceremony."

    And some don't even question whether it's pointful or not for the person supposedly appointed to run the government to fly 1000 miles to see the monarch in whichever castle happens to be most convenient for her?

    If there were a president, it could be done by phone.

    Reminds me of the 1951 general election - supposedly called because if it had had to be called a few months later there would have been difficulties because a member of the royal family ("king") would have been on holiday abroad ("visiting his Commonwealth realms").

    Is this Blackadder or is this reality?

    It's like that reality where this didn't happen:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007 *

    So the Cold War in the 1980s was Not A Thing.

    *what an unfortunate name for a mass killing involving international diplomacy, by the way.
    I've read some odd opinions on here over the years, but the idea that the Cold War was over before the 1980s may take the biscuit.
    You're just ignorant.

    Read some books about it.

    Find me ONE respected author, academic, or politician writing in the mid-1980s who thought the "Cold War" was still going on.

    When "Détente" was the thing in the early 1970s, do you think everyone thought it was a stage in the Cold War?

    These are words, by the way. I'm talking about how words have been used, and how a word use has changed completely, with the previous use being squashed down the memory hole. And I'm totally right about this.
    I have to say, I initially thought you were talking absolute nonsense, and then I looked up what people were saying in the relevant period.

    The invasion of Afghanistan shocked many people into realising that moderation had not been met with moderation. We have no wish to return to the so-called “cold war” of the early 1950s. It is not we who have imperial ambitions. We are not imposing our will on other countries by force of arms. We respect the sovereignty of others. We welcome the strong reassertion of this principle by the non-aligned movement in the wake of the invasion of Afghanistan. Margaret Thatcher, 16 April 1981

    A number of years ago, I heard a young father, a very prominent young man in the entertainment world, addressing a tremendous gathering in California. It was during the time of the Cold War, and communism and our own way of life were very much on people’s minds. And he was speaking to that subject. Ronald Reagan, 8 March 1983

    With that said, I understand entirely (and broadly support) the revision of the term "Cold War" to refer to the entire period of ideological conflict between Communism and democratic/capitalist powers, rather than just the early period. In the 1980s, they didn't have the benefit of hindsight to know they wouldn't need to use the term Third World War at any point.
    Wiki says it ran from 47 to 91. As to "the height of it", I instinctively think of the 50s and 60s, Cuba, Kennedy & Khrushchev, Smiley, Bond etc.
This discussion has been closed.