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The polling’s clear – a switch to Johnson is NOT the answer for the Tories – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 11,002
edited January 2023 in General
imageThe polling’s clear – a switch to Johnson is NOT the answer for the Tories – politicalbetting.com

This morning Ipsos issued their January leader ratings and as can be seen in the chart above the numbers are not very good for Boris Johnson.

Read the full story here

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Comments

  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,164
    Boris more popular than Blair.
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,151
    Boris isn't coming back!
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,727
    @gavinesler: Thoughts and prayers for the Tufton Street bloviators at this difficult time https://twitter.com/danneidle/status/1617481838196396034
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,708
    edited January 2023
    The Conservatives won in 2019 not just to beat Corbyn but to deliver Brexit with Boris, otherwise May would have won a majority v Corbyn too in 2017.

    What that polling shows is that Sunak is now the Tories' best bet still given Brexit has been delivered. Sunak has higher favourables than Hunt, Braverman, Cleverly and Boris, just, as well as a better net rating than all his Tory rivals.

    With the Tory rating back up to 30% with Deltapoll today and Johnson embroiled in a new scandal, my guess is Sunak now survives to lead the Tories at the next general election
  • TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    While the govt is undoubtedly mired in sleaze a la 1997 I'm not too sure the country will rise up in joy at the prospect of SKS bounding along Downing St shaking hands as he goes.

    Depends how it plays out, but it might be for the best.

    Part of Blair's appeal was the sense that things would get better painlessly. To an extent, they did, though partly by sowing seeds bearing toxic fruit now.

    If the country is prepared to accept that we need to take the hangover, someone dour like Starmer might be just the chap to calmly but sternly get us back on our collective feet by teatime. (No prosecco for me thanks, I'll stick to the fizzy water).
    When has the country ever been prepared to accept that?
    2010?

    Though even then only enough for Cameron to get a minority, and only on a pledge that we were "all in it together".
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    While the govt is undoubtedly mired in sleaze a la 1997 I'm not too sure the country will rise up in joy at the prospect of SKS bounding along Downing St shaking hands as he goes.

    Depends how it plays out, but it might be for the best.

    Part of Blair's appeal was the sense that things would get better painlessly. To an extent, they did, though partly by sowing seeds bearing toxic fruit now.

    If the country is prepared to accept that we need to take the hangover, someone dour like Starmer might be just the chap to calmly but sternly get us back on our collective feet by teatime. (No prosecco for me thanks, I'll stick to the fizzy water).
    When has the country ever been prepared to accept that?
    2010?

    Though even then only enough for Cameron to get a minority, and only on a pledge that we were "all in it together".
    I don't suppose there's much all in it togetherness about a £5m tax payment/fine.
  • tlg86 said:

    Boris more popular than Blair.

    Boris is also more unpopular than Blair.
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,557
    For those who follow American Football.

    Tough Cowboys loss. I haven’t seen a Texas defense collapse like that since the state’s junior senator was asked to defend his wife against Donald Trump.

    Go Niners.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/1617498981147283457
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,727
    Nigelb said:

    For those who follow American Football.

    Tough Cowboys loss. I haven’t seen a Texas defense collapse like that since the state’s junior senator was asked to defend his wife against Donald Trump.

    Go Niners.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/1617498981147283457


    The Dallas Cowboys keep rewriting the book of playoff incompetence

    Give them credit: America’s Team consistently find interesting ways to come up short in the postseason as their Super Bowl drought continues

    https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jan/23/dallas-cowboys-playoff-loss-san-francisco-49ers-nfl-football

    GO EAGLES !!!
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,753
    Boris is unquestionably a more capable politician (as opposed to PM) and campaigner than Sunak just as Blair is far more skilled at winning elections than Starmer but it really doesn't matter. Both Boris and Blair have way, way too much baggage to be seriously considered by anyone who is (a) sober and (b) has a mental age of more than about 15.

    It is true that there is a certain percentage of the current Tory party who would fail to meet these rigorous criteria but it is not large enough to get any momentum behind it.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,557

    tlg86 said:

    Boris more popular than Blair.

    Boris is also more unpopular than Blair.
    Also would be completely superfluous to have 'liar' in his name.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 43,592
    OT: This reinforces, I think, my contention that Sunak won't be defenestrated until/if there is a challenger who can show a serious improvement
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,557
    The glorious motherland.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/g900ap/status/1617215165321060353
    This is Olesya Krivtsova, she is 19 years old. She posted on Instagram about the war, she criticized Russia for its warmongering. Two fellow students reported her to the authorities. She is now charged with terrorism. She may get 10 years in jail.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 20,812
    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,072

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    I recently did some work for some clients in South Wales, who told me that they usually drive to Bristol airport rather than use Cardiff because it’s cheaper.

    I live within 10 mins of Newcastle Airport but usually fly from Edinburgh/Manchester/Birmingham for the same reason.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,603

    MaxPB said:

    I think the next couple of months is going to see a lot of downwards pressure on prices in supermarkets, Asda and Morrisons seem to have woken up to the fact that they are going out of businesses and consumers now see them as poor value. I just wonder whether they can afford a prolonged price war now that both are so highly leveraged.

    My understanding is that the PE play for Morrisons they don't care about the actual supermarket business. Its all about the sale and lease back, strip the assets, lovely jubbly.

    I never quite understood the Issa / TDR Capital motivation to buy Asda? A similar business model?
    The debt is secured on the assets, the bondholders will takeover and the PE owners will be left with nothing, hence having to actually run the business properly again.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    Nigelb said:

    The glorious motherland.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/g900ap/status/1617215165321060353
    This is Olesya Krivtsova, she is 19 years old. She posted on Instagram about the war, she criticized Russia for its warmongering. Two fellow students reported her to the authorities. She is now charged with terrorism. She may get 10 years in jail.

    Another cue for anyone with the means to do so, to get the hell out of Russia.

    Before the border gets shut.

    Western universities should hand out a few transfer scholarships, just to encourage the brain drain show impartiality in the war.
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 4,087

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,457
    I see that Sunak has ruthlessly and decisively kicked Zahawi's future into the long grass.
    While he's there, Zahawi will probably bump into Dominic Raab.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 12,880
    edited January 2023
    The first film in the Wagner Extended Universe franchise, Lushchiye v Adu / Best in Hell is out. Seek it out on YT if you wish truly to grok the sentiment behind the SMO. I also recommend Opolchenochka in which a demure young history teacher shaves her head on her wedding day in order to become a tank gunner and slaughter Ukrainians. These productions, and there are many more like them, are wildly popular in Russia. They serve an analogous indoctrinal function as that Top Gun shit does in the West.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 14,772
    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    As I recall the approach to land on the runway at Cardiff Airport is quite picturesque, since it lies at the top of a cliff.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 48,909
    edited January 2023
    Dura_Ace said:

    The first film in the Wagner Extended Universe franchise, Lushchiye v Adu / Best in Hell is out. Seek it out on YT if you wish truly to grok the sentiment behind the SMO. I also recommend Opolchenochka in which a demure young history teacher shaves her head on her wedding day in order to become a tank gunner and slaughter Ukrainians. These productions, and there are many more like them, are wildly popular in Russia. They serve an analogous indoctrinal function as that Top Gun shit does in the West.

    Are you willing to defend your heart-throb Putin after this:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64345693

    The timing is no accident: Vladimir Putin says that Russia is not only fighting Ukraine on the battlefield, but also "Western" values. During a speech in the Kremlin to mark the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions, the president lashed out at the West and LGBT rights, calling them "pure Satanism".
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 4,087
    edited January 2023

    I see that Sunak has ruthlessly and decisively kicked Zahawi's future into the long grass.
    While he's there, Zahawi will probably bump into Dominic Raab.

    Sunak can't get rid of all the corrupt Tories. Who would be left? (Allegedly.)
  • DriverDriver Posts: 4,522
    Nigelb said:

    For those who follow American Football.

    Tough Cowboys loss. I haven’t seen a Texas defense collapse like that since the state’s junior senator was asked to defend his wife against Donald Trump.

    Go Niners.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/1617498981147283457



    Four very good teams left in the playoffs. I wouldn't want to bet on this one.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,603
    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Yeah Cardiff Airport should be in Newport and on the GWR trainline. Then it would serve Cardiff and Bristol which is enough customers to sustain an airport.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,008
    Could it be any clearer that Zahawi can't survive, and that Sunak is only damaging himself by delaying the decision?
  • kjhkjh Posts: 10,456
    edited January 2023
    HYUFD said:

    The Conservatives won in 2019 not just to beat Corbyn but to deliver Brexit with Boris, otherwise May would have won a majority v Corbyn too in 2017.

    What that polling shows is that Sunak is now the Tories' best bet still given Brexit has been delivered. Sunak has higher favourables than Hunt, Braverman, Cleverly and Boris, just, as well as a better net rating than all his Tory rivals.

    With the Tory rating back up to 30% with Deltapoll today and Johnson embroiled in a new scandal, my guess is Sunak now survives to lead the Tories at the next general election

    I've liked it because I do agree with the thrust of the post but would like to be a bit picky with a couple of points:

    a) I agree that Boris won because of Brexit and not just because of Corbyn, but I'm not sure you can argue that the logical deduction from that is otherwise May would have won, because May also had the other disadvantage of running the worst campaign ever seen. A 5 year old could have done better. Boris, for all I dislike his dishonesty, is a hell of a better campaigner than May. Still I agree 'Get Brexit Done' was the key factor.

    b) Also I'm not sure you can argue Brexit has been delivered, although some do. It is like going into a Burger King and ordering a burger and chips and getting some uncooked mince and a potato.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,557
    Dura_Ace said:

    The first film in the Wagner Extended Universe franchise, Lushchiye v Adu / Best in Hell is out...

    Peter Gabriel soundtrack ?
  • YBarddCwscYBarddCwsc Posts: 7,172

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    1. Cardiff should have an airport, but it is faced with an extremely strong local competitor in Bristol.

    2. There was nothing wrong in the Welsh Govt buying the airport. The problem was the valuation. At about the same time, the Scottish Government bought a failing airport, Prestwick. They paid £1.

    There is no more glaring example of the competency of the Welsh Govt versus the Scottish Govt than the tale of the two failing airports. One Govt paid £52 m, one paid a £1.

    3 This is either incompetence or corruption.

    Who benefitted? The Thomas brothers had a big stake in Cardiff Airport. Curiously, the same business men who benefitted from these doubtful deals

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-34973488

    They were able to buy publicly-owned land at knock-down prices and made another £21 million.

    This is South Wales. This is what happens when you have a perpetual hegemony that is never voted out of office.
  • Chris said:

    Could it be any clearer that Zahawi can't survive, and that Sunak is only damaging himself by delaying the decision?

    On my way home today I got to listen to The World At One which included an interview with Dominic Grieve.

    Zahawi is a dead man walking.

    I hadn't been previously aware that he was Chancellor whilst being investigated by his own department. That is surely terminal if nothing else is.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 14,772
    MaxPB said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Yeah Cardiff Airport should be in Newport and on the GWR trainline. Then it would serve Cardiff and Bristol which is enough customers to sustain an airport.
    It's less than nine miles as the crow flies from Cardiff Airport to Cardiff Central station and less than eight to the nearest M4 junction.

    It shouldn't be beyond the wit, or means, of a devolved administration to create good transport links from the airport to both. You'd think the airport was in Rhayader to hear you talk about it.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 5,781
    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
  • Chris said:

    Could it be any clearer that Zahawi can't survive, and that Sunak is only damaging himself by delaying the decision?

    No. Political. Ability.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 12,880

    Chris said:

    Could it be any clearer that Zahawi can't survive, and that Sunak is only damaging himself by delaying the decision?

    On my way home today I got to listen to The World At One which included an interview with Dominic Grieve.

    Zahawi is a dead man walking.

    I hadn't been previously aware that he was Chancellor whilst being investigated by his own department. That is surely terminal if nothing else is.
    If he can get through next weekend without any fresh revelations he might survive. At the cost of immense damage to the tories but he doesn't a fuck about that.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,727
    Is Zahawi a dead cat to distract from BoZo, a dead cat to distract from the Covid minister, a dead cat to distract from THE NUMBER OF CATS KILLED BY THIS TORY GOVERNMENT ???
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 4,784

    MaxPB said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Yeah Cardiff Airport should be in Newport and on the GWR trainline. Then it would serve Cardiff and Bristol which is enough customers to sustain an airport.
    It's less than nine miles as the crow flies from Cardiff Airport to Cardiff Central station and less than eight to the nearest M4 junction.

    It shouldn't be beyond the wit, or means, of a devolved administration to create good transport links from the airport to both. You'd think the airport was in Rhayader to hear you talk about it.
    Yes, I don't think it's quite LBA levels of badly placed. Never flown from there, generally MAN, even though not nice, or LPL, which is as far from the motorway as Cardiff, but on a fast road.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    edited January 2023
    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
    A lot of the traffic would be transfers through LHR, going to New York or Milan. Serving Heathrow from regional airports, makes those regions more attractive places to live.

    LCY is the best airport in the world! Five minutes from the taxi rank to the gate, and rarely more than 10 in the other direction!
  • TimSTimS Posts: 9,138
    I saw Boris loudly harrumphing and bloviating on the news earlier.

    Struck me his decline is a little like Clarkson. His natural charisma has kept him in the frame longer than less naturally talented individuals despite a record of repeated misdemeanours.

    But over time, like Clarkson, his star keeps waning until he reaches (of has already reached) the point of no return.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 13,224
    edited January 2023
    Dura_Ace said:

    Chris said:

    Could it be any clearer that Zahawi can't survive, and that Sunak is only damaging himself by delaying the decision?

    On my way home today I got to listen to The World At One which included an interview with Dominic Grieve.

    Zahawi is a dead man walking.

    I hadn't been previously aware that he was Chancellor whilst being investigated by his own department. That is surely terminal if nothing else is.
    If he can get through next weekend without any fresh revelations he might survive. At the cost of immense damage to the tories but he doesn't a fuck about that.
    Are there any markets on that? Off the cuff I'd go 4/6 he doesn't survive beyond the weekend.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 5,781
    edited January 2023
    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
    A lot of the traffic would be transfers through LHR, going to New York or Milan. Serving Heathrow from regional airports, makes those regions more attractive places to live.

    LCY is the best airport in the world! Five minutes from the taxi rank to the gate, and rarely more than 10 in the other direction!
    Just suggest high speed rail to Heathrow. Or more direct flights from regional airports (Edinburgh is now quite good for this!)
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,206
    Scott_xP said:

    Is Zahawi a dead cat to distract from BoZo, a dead cat to distract from the Covid minister, a dead cat to distract from THE NUMBER OF CATS KILLED BY THIS TORY GOVERNMENT ???

    That’s a tweet. It’s too amusing for you to have created it
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,874
    TimS said:

    I saw Boris loudly harrumphing and bloviating on the news earlier.

    Struck me his decline is a little like Clarkson. His natural charisma has kept him in the frame longer than less naturally talented individuals despite a record of repeated misdemeanours.

    But over time, like Clarkson, his star keeps waning until he reaches (of has already reached) the point of no return.

    I think rumours of the death of Clarkson('s) career are somewhat premature. The farm series is being filmed and I predict will be a success.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 5,781

    TimS said:

    I saw Boris loudly harrumphing and bloviating on the news earlier.

    Struck me his decline is a little like Clarkson. His natural charisma has kept him in the frame longer than less naturally talented individuals despite a record of repeated misdemeanours.

    But over time, like Clarkson, his star keeps waning until he reaches (of has already reached) the point of no return.

    I think rumours of the death of Clarkson('s) career are somewhat premature. The farm series is being filmed and I predict will be a success.
    Out 10th February.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,557

    Chris said:

    Could it be any clearer that Zahawi can't survive, and that Sunak is only damaging himself by delaying the decision?

    No. Political. Ability.

    Chris said:

    Could it be any clearer that Zahawi can't survive, and that Sunak is only damaging himself by delaying the decision?

    No. Political. Ability.
    Apparently needs to consult an ethics adviser to find out whether a Chancellor should be negotiating tax penalties with his own department.

    Tough call.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,603
    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
    A lot of the traffic would be transfers through LHR, going to New York or Milan. Serving Heathrow from regional airports, makes those regions more attractive places to live.

    LCY is the best airport in the world! Five minutes from the taxi rank to the gate, and rarely more than 10 in the other direction!
    Just suggest high speed rail to Heathrow. Or more direct flights from regional airports (Edinburgh is now quite good for this!)
    Direct flights from regional airports don't work because there's not enough of a basin to sustain flights to/from other parts of the world, hence Cardiff Airport being insolvent.

    My earlier point about the location of Cardiff Airport is that it is out of the way enough for Bristolians that it makes as much sense for them to drive to Heathrow or Gatwick as it does to drive to Cardiff Airport so that's what they do, or for people getting the train, Bristol Parkway to Heathrow is now very easy with the Elizabeth Line via Reading.

    You'd have to be a numpty to fly from Cardiff if you're not from Cardiff or Swansea.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
    A lot of the traffic would be transfers through LHR, going to New York or Milan. Serving Heathrow from regional airports, makes those regions more attractive places to live.

    LCY is the best airport in the world! Five minutes from the taxi rank to the gate, and rarely more than 10 in the other direction!
    Just suggest high speed rail to Heathrow. Or more direct flights from regional airports (Edinburgh is now quite good for this!)
    Both rail and air have a role to play.

    Air’s advantage is that it’s easier and cheaper to scale up or down with demand.

    Yes, HS2 should have gone to Heathrow, and yes it should have linked with HS1.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,557

    TimS said:

    I saw Boris loudly harrumphing and bloviating on the news earlier.

    Struck me his decline is a little like Clarkson. His natural charisma has kept him in the frame longer than less naturally talented individuals despite a record of repeated misdemeanours.

    But over time, like Clarkson, his star keeps waning until he reaches (of has already reached) the point of no return.

    I think rumours of the death of Clarkson('s) career are somewhat premature. The farm series is being filmed and I predict will be a success.
    Well, I wake up in the morning, fold my hands, and pray for rain
    I got a head full of ideas, that are drivin' me insane
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,206
    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





  • TimSTimS Posts: 9,138

    TimS said:

    I saw Boris loudly harrumphing and bloviating on the news earlier.

    Struck me his decline is a little like Clarkson. His natural charisma has kept him in the frame longer than less naturally talented individuals despite a record of repeated misdemeanours.

    But over time, like Clarkson, his star keeps waning until he reaches (of has already reached) the point of no return.

    I think rumours of the death of Clarkson('s) career are somewhat premature. The farm series is being filmed and I predict will be a success.
    Boris isn’t over yet either. Both are engaged in a slow but inexorable stepwise decline because both keep making balls-ups that aren’t 100% compensated for by the good times.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 14,911
    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    It's often good to get an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. I've always thought AJE's coverage was great when I've caught it. Less bland than the BBC, smarter and less insular than the US networks.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,933
    The creepiest news I ever heard was in China. Radio news, in English, and it all seemed normal but... off. And about 10 minutes in I realised that all the news was good. Nobody got murdered. Nobody got robbed. Everything was wonderful and getting better all the time.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,206

    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    It's often good to get an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. I've always thought AJE's coverage was great when I've caught it. Less bland than the BBC, smarter and less insular than the US networks.
    It’s actually better than BBC World, I think, certainly more insightful and interesting these last ten days I’ve been watching. Ironically they use a lot of British journos
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 14,911
    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
    A lot of the traffic would be transfers through LHR, going to New York or Milan. Serving Heathrow from regional airports, makes those regions more attractive places to live.

    LCY is the best airport in the world! Five minutes from the taxi rank to the gate, and rarely more than 10 in the other direction!
    Just suggest high speed rail to Heathrow. Or more direct flights from regional airports (Edinburgh is now quite good for this!)
    Both rail and air have a role to play.

    Air’s advantage is that it’s easier and cheaper to scale up or down with demand.

    Yes, HS2 should have gone to Heathrow, and yes it should have linked with HS1.
    The link to the Elizabeth Line at Old Oak Common will make it very quick and easy to connect from HS2 to Heathrow. The link to HS1 would have been sensible but the case would be a lot stronger if we were inside Schengen and could run direct trains from Manchester and Brum to Paris and Amsterdam.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614

    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    It's often good to get an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. I've always thought AJE's coverage was great when I've caught it. Less bland than the BBC, smarter and less insular than the US networks.
    It is indeed good to take in a range of news sources and viewpoints - so long as you remember that many of them are state-funded propaganda outfits, and can have very subtle but oddly specific messages on certain world events.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,557
    The Polish Lithuanian ... British Commonwealth.

    New poll's finds:
    🔸86% of Ukrainians support the country's accession to NATO
    🔸87% favor the accession to the EU
    🔸85% support a military and political union of Ukraine, Poland, and the UK
    🔸80% are for a union of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania

    https://mobile.twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617531862309810185

    Seems a little fanciful.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,727
    @YouGov: By 51% to 12%, Britons say Nadhim Zahawi should resign from his role as Conservative party chairman (36% are unsure… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1617536150054526977
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,557
    Could be a route to Rejoin, I suppose....
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 14,911
    Sandpit said:

    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    It's often good to get an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. I've always thought AJE's coverage was great when I've caught it. Less bland than the BBC, smarter and less insular than the US networks.
    It is indeed good to take in a range of news sources and viewpoints - so long as you remember that many of them are state-funded propaganda outfits, and can have very subtle but oddly specific messages on certain world events.
    True, but that's true of the BBC, CNN etc too. Everyone has a bias of some kind. That's the benefit of getting news and views from more than one place, and is one thing I like about PB.
  • Nigelb said:

    The Polish Lithuanian ... British Commonwealth.

    New poll's finds:
    🔸86% of Ukrainians support the country's accession to NATO
    🔸87% favor the accession to the EU
    🔸85% support a military and political union of Ukraine, Poland, and the UK
    🔸80% are for a union of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania

    https://mobile.twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617531862309810185

    Seems a little fanciful.

    Why so? The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was once quite a thing:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish–Lithuanian_Commonwealth
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,206
    Sandpit said:

    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    It's often good to get an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. I've always thought AJE's coverage was great when I've caught it. Less bland than the BBC, smarter and less insular than the US networks.
    It is indeed good to take in a range of news sources and viewpoints - so long as you remember that many of them are state-funded propaganda outfits, and can have very subtle but oddly specific messages on certain world events.
    I see less bias in AJE than I do in British or American news. It is much less Woke than lefty channels. But nowhere near as mad as Fox

    Naturally it gets more biased the closer it gets to Islam, the Gulf states and Israel/Palestine. But that is not a huge chunk of its coverage (in English - I have no idea about AJ Arabic)
  • The creepiest news I ever heard was in China. Radio news, in English, and it all seemed normal but... off. And about 10 minutes in I realised that all the news was good. Nobody got murdered. Nobody got robbed. Everything was wonderful and getting better all the time.

    Run by the same people that do the Daily Express, perchance?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,557

    Nigelb said:

    The Polish Lithuanian ... British Commonwealth.

    New poll's finds:
    🔸86% of Ukrainians support the country's accession to NATO
    🔸87% favor the accession to the EU
    🔸85% support a military and political union of Ukraine, Poland, and the UK
    🔸80% are for a union of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania

    https://mobile.twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617531862309810185

    Seems a little fanciful.

    Why so? The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was once quite a thing:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish–Lithuanian_Commonwealth
    But very much not the same thing.
    Aristos only.

    The Ukraine bit was basically serfs and absentee landlords.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,727
    @estwebber: The Cabinet Office vetting people for ministerial jobs https://twitter.com/estwebber/status/1617537202786795520/photo/1
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    Quite a long way out though, if I recall correctly, also not far from the new shopping centre at Bang Na.
  • YBarddCwscYBarddCwsc Posts: 7,172
    edited January 2023

    Nigelb said:

    The Polish Lithuanian ... British Commonwealth.

    New poll's finds:
    🔸86% of Ukrainians support the country's accession to NATO
    🔸87% favor the accession to the EU
    🔸85% support a military and political union of Ukraine, Poland, and the UK
    🔸80% are for a union of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania

    https://mobile.twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617531862309810185

    Seems a little fanciful.

    Why so? The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was once quite a thing:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish–Lithuanian_Commonwealth
    Well ...

    The first thing an independent Poland did after WW1 was invade Lithuania.
  • Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    It's often good to get an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. I've always thought AJE's coverage was great when I've caught it. Less bland than the BBC, smarter and less insular than the US networks.
    It’s actually better than BBC World, I think, certainly more insightful and interesting these last ten days I’ve been watching. Ironically they use a lot of British journos
    Yes, I've found much the same.

    By the way, the Eurocentric view of World History is remedied by reading Peter Frankopan's 'The Silk Road' which makes you appreciate how recent and anomolous Europe's prominence in World Affairs really is.
  • Nigelb said:

    The Polish Lithuanian ... British Commonwealth.

    New poll's finds:
    🔸86% of Ukrainians support the country's accession to NATO
    🔸87% favor the accession to the EU
    🔸85% support a military and political union of Ukraine, Poland, and the UK
    🔸80% are for a union of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania

    https://mobile.twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617531862309810185

    Seems a little fanciful.

    Why so? The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was once quite a thing:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish–Lithuanian_Commonwealth
    Well ...

    The first thing an independent Poland did after WW1 was invade Lithuania.
    Oh come on now, what's the odd bit of invasion amongst friends?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,206

    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    Quite a long way out though, if I recall correctly, also not far from the new shopping centre at Bang Na.

    It’s on soi 4 Sukhumvit! 5 mins walk from Nana Station and surrounded by the best bars and restaurants in the city. And tons of fun

    And only 30 mins drive from the airport

    I cannot think of a better location unless you are determined to live in Old Bangkok by the river and Wat Po etc. But that is like staying near Windsor Palace or Richmond if you are in London
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 14,772
    edited January 2023
    Nigelb said:

    The Polish Lithuanian ... British Commonwealth.

    New poll's finds:
    🔸86% of Ukrainians support the country's accession to NATO
    🔸87% favor the accession to the EU
    🔸85% support a military and political union of Ukraine, Poland, and the UK
    🔸80% are for a union of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania

    https://mobile.twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617531862309810185

    Seems a little fanciful.

    Suspect there would be high percentages for accession to the US as the 51st State too.

    Interesting that the more fanciful political unions are almost as popular as the more achievable. Probably a function of seeking any assistance with the current struggle.
  • VerulamiusVerulamius Posts: 1,429
    MaxPB said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Yeah Cardiff Airport should be in Newport and on the GWR trainline. Then it would serve Cardiff and Bristol which is enough customers to sustain an airport.
    I agree.

    Demolish Newport and replace with a new well connected airport.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,557
    Interesting article by FLF founder.

    The nuclear physics of why tritium is a challenge for fusion engineering
    https://nickhawker.com/2023/01/22/the-nuclear-physics-of-why-tritium-is-a-challenge-for-fusion-engineering/
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    edited January 2023

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    It's often good to get an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. I've always thought AJE's coverage was great when I've caught it. Less bland than the BBC, smarter and less insular than the US networks.
    It’s actually better than BBC World, I think, certainly more insightful and interesting these last ten days I’ve been watching. Ironically they use a lot of British journos
    Yes, I've found much the same.

    By the way, the Eurocentric view of World History is remedied by reading Peter Frankopan's 'The Silk Road' which makes you appreciate how recent and anomolous Europe's prominence in World Affairs really is.
    Some years ago, I was present as a fascinating discussion as to what might’ve happened If the Norsemen had allied themselves with the native Americans they met inVinland and built up trading links across the north Atlantic.
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
    A lot of the traffic would be transfers through LHR, going to New York or Milan. Serving Heathrow from regional airports, makes those regions more attractive places to live.

    LCY is the best airport in the world! Five minutes from the taxi rank to the gate, and rarely more than 10 in the other direction!
    Just suggest high speed rail to Heathrow. Or more direct flights from regional airports (Edinburgh is now quite good for this!)
    Both rail and air have a role to play.

    Air’s advantage is that it’s easier and cheaper to scale up or down with demand.

    Yes, HS2 should have gone to Heathrow, and yes it should have linked with HS1.
    The link to the Elizabeth Line at Old Oak Common will make it very quick and easy to connect from HS2 to Heathrow. The link to HS1 would have been sensible but the case would be a lot stronger if we were inside Schengen and could run direct trains from Manchester and Brum to Paris and Amsterdam.
    Old Oak common will for many people be a better station to use than Euston. The only weakness is that the Elizabeth line doesn't serve either Euston nor Kings Cross.

    As an aside Istanbul actually decided that they don't need trains going the final leg into Istanbul so if you catch the train from Sofia / Bucharest you now arrive / leave at Halkali rather than Sirkeci and from Halkali you catch their Elizabeth line equivalent to Sirkeci or beyond.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 11,059
    I note Truss has been left of the chart in the thread header. A glaring omission given she’s well on her way back.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 9,138

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
    A lot of the traffic would be transfers through LHR, going to New York or Milan. Serving Heathrow from regional airports, makes those regions more attractive places to live.

    LCY is the best airport in the world! Five minutes from the taxi rank to the gate, and rarely more than 10 in the other direction!
    Just suggest high speed rail to Heathrow. Or more direct flights from regional airports (Edinburgh is now quite good for this!)
    Both rail and air have a role to play.

    Air’s advantage is that it’s easier and cheaper to scale up or down with demand.

    Yes, HS2 should have gone to Heathrow, and yes it should have linked with HS1.
    The link to the Elizabeth Line at Old Oak Common will make it very quick and easy to connect from HS2 to Heathrow. The link to HS1 would have been sensible but the case would be a lot stronger if we were inside Schengen and could run direct trains from Manchester and Brum to Paris and Amsterdam.
    Of course we could join Schengen without rejoining the EU or even the EEA and without having free movement of labour. Just like Switzerland.

    Always seemed like the oddest thing to have opted out of, other than simply because we were an island. A massive boost for tourism in both directions, and it would free up border (and security) capacity at the ports to manage
    freight and monitor smuggling.
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    MaxPB said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
    A lot of the traffic would be transfers through LHR, going to New York or Milan. Serving Heathrow from regional airports, makes those regions more attractive places to live.

    LCY is the best airport in the world! Five minutes from the taxi rank to the gate, and rarely more than 10 in the other direction!
    Just suggest high speed rail to Heathrow. Or more direct flights from regional airports (Edinburgh is now quite good for this!)
    Direct flights from regional airports don't work because there's not enough of a basin to sustain flights to/from other parts of the world, hence Cardiff Airport being insolvent.

    My earlier point about the location of Cardiff Airport is that it is out of the way enough for Bristolians that it makes as much sense for them to drive to Heathrow or Gatwick as it does to drive to Cardiff Airport so that's what they do, or for people getting the train, Bristol Parkway to Heathrow is now very easy with the Elizabeth Line via Reading.

    You'd have to be a numpty to fly from Cardiff if you're not from Cardiff or Swansea.
    I used to do some work for the Welsh Government (as it was for investment planning they didn't want a Welsh company involved in it for sanity reasons).

    Flying to Cardiff was so painful we always fly to Bristol.
  • Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    The Polish Lithuanian ... British Commonwealth.

    New poll's finds:
    🔸86% of Ukrainians support the country's accession to NATO
    🔸87% favor the accession to the EU
    🔸85% support a military and political union of Ukraine, Poland, and the UK
    🔸80% are for a union of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania

    https://mobile.twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617531862309810185

    Seems a little fanciful.

    Why so? The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was once quite a thing:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish–Lithuanian_Commonwealth
    But very much not the same thing.
    Aristos only.

    The Ukraine bit was basically serfs and absentee landlords.
    Ah, bit like Ireland then, until....erm, fairly recently.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,206
    TimS said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
    A lot of the traffic would be transfers through LHR, going to New York or Milan. Serving Heathrow from regional airports, makes those regions more attractive places to live.

    LCY is the best airport in the world! Five minutes from the taxi rank to the gate, and rarely more than 10 in the other direction!
    Just suggest high speed rail to Heathrow. Or more direct flights from regional airports (Edinburgh is now quite good for this!)
    Both rail and air have a role to play.

    Air’s advantage is that it’s easier and cheaper to scale up or down with demand.

    Yes, HS2 should have gone to Heathrow, and yes it should have linked with HS1.
    The link to the Elizabeth Line at Old Oak Common will make it very quick and easy to connect from HS2 to Heathrow. The link to HS1 would have been sensible but the case would be a lot stronger if we were inside Schengen and could run direct trains from Manchester and Brum to Paris and Amsterdam.
    Of course we could join Schengen without rejoining the EU or even the EEA and without having free movement of labour. Just like Switzerland.

    Always seemed like the oddest thing to have opted out of, other than simply because we were an island. A massive boost for tourism in both directions, and it would free up border (and security) capacity at the ports to manage
    freight and monitor smuggling.
    Yes, I agree

    We barely count people coming in or out, so we might as well join Schengen

    Would help with the Irish border as well
  • kamskikamski Posts: 4,199

    kamski said:

    kamski said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    And more:

    "The German government spokesperson denies the claims by Foreign Minister Baerbock who said Germany wouldn’t "stand in the way" of Poland sending its Leopards to 🇺🇦

    The spokesperson told Politico that it would have to be discussed in Germany's Federal Security Council."

    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1617481495555497985

    They make our government look positively competent and statesmanlike.

    It is a much easier decision for our government to make, though. There are obvious reasons why it would not be prudent for Germany to look as though it is taking the lead on supplying tanks. These include both the risk of giving Putin a propaganda victory in terms of comparisons with WW2 and the fact that Germany is entirely reliant on others for its nuclear deterrent.

    I expect that Germany will ultimately end up allowing the export of Leopards, but it is very much in its interests to be seen to be reluctant about doing so. This doesn't apply to the UK.
    They're not taking the lead. Loads of Soviet-era tanks were sent last year, and we've set modernish C2's. That's a really poor excuse.

    Putin's already getting a propaganda victory from this: he can show (rightly) that the west is divided. This will give him confidence that he can split the coalition against him.
    When did our tanks arrive in Ukraine?
    Not yet, as far as I know. But we're sending them, along with other kit (repair and bridging kit). Why's that of relevance?

    There's always a delay (although apparently one of 200 vehicles Canada said they were giving last week has already been lost at the front, so I think some countries are announcing things as they arrive.)
    It's relevant because we decided to send them a fortnight or so ago and we (you, mainly) seem to be castigating Germany for not immediately following our lead. Why didn't we send them six months ago if it is so obvious they need to be sent.
    Ukraine have asked specifically for the Leo 2's. And it should be noted that the Leo2 is the best choice for Ukraine: easy to maintain, with common ammo with other western kit, and available in numbers that may make a difference. As several eastern European countries operate them, maintenance kit and knowledge is also much more widespread.

    In comparison the C2's use non-standard ammo, and only have a few available. Leclercs are less numerous as well. Abrams are fuel-hungry and complex to maintain.

    But the main point is this: Germany have not even done the groundwork to send them, or even investigate what needs doing to send them. Hence the stoopid 'over a year' claim to send them from one of the arms companies.
    "Ukraine have asked specifically for the Leo 2's" - yes, and for many months.

    Ukraine have also specifically asked for Challengers, Abrams and Leclercs for many months.
    And we've sending C2's. Why won't Germany send Leo2's? Why won't they allow other countries to send them? Why haven't they done an inventory of what they have to send? Why did the outgoing defence minister stop such a survey?
    I'm just suggesting you do a tiny bit of homework before posting.

    Another example: of course they've done an inventory. According to Spiegel it was completed by May last year.

    Also why link to visegrad24 when these things have been widely reported in reputable media?
    I have done homework, thanks. How condescending of you. I often post links; you might like to do the same.

    Your defence of Germany' position over this is slightly odd. At least you appear to have moved away from "The US should send them first!" rubbish.
    Sorry for the condescension, it's just that unless I've misunderstood "Ukraine have asked specifically for the Leo 2's", you didn't seem to realise Ukraine has also been asking "specifically" for other tanks for months?

    Here's a link to the story about Germany having done a tank inventory early last summer:

    https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/ukraine-krieg-diese-leopard-panzer-koennte-die-bundeswehr-abgeben-a-5df41a86-3110-4152-82c9-02afb552d5dd


    Again, I would really prefer you to not put words into my mouth that I have not said. Which you repeatedly do. It is quite annoying, and fits with the pattern of you not bothering with facts, and being unable to tolerate any perspective that doesn't exactly fit with your prejudices.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 14,772
    DougSeal said:

    I note Truss has been left of the chart in the thread header. A glaring omission given she’s well on her way back.

    It's all part of the campaign to convince the public her time as PM never happened.

    Soon she'll be relegated to a footnote on Wikipedia when someone contends that she never passed any legislation, clearly therefore did not have the confidence of the House to get her business through, and so should be regarded only as a caretaker, or prospective, PM at most.

    Liz Truss was never Prime Minister. Don't believe the woke conspiracy.

    As any fool knows, you can't be a Tory PM unless you've received a FPN these days.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 20,812
    edited January 2023
    Leon said:

    TimS said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
    A lot of the traffic would be transfers through LHR, going to New York or Milan. Serving Heathrow from regional airports, makes those regions more attractive places to live.

    LCY is the best airport in the world! Five minutes from the taxi rank to the gate, and rarely more than 10 in the other direction!
    Just suggest high speed rail to Heathrow. Or more direct flights from regional airports (Edinburgh is now quite good for this!)
    Both rail and air have a role to play.

    Air’s advantage is that it’s easier and cheaper to scale up or down with demand.

    Yes, HS2 should have gone to Heathrow, and yes it should have linked with HS1.
    The link to the Elizabeth Line at Old Oak Common will make it very quick and easy to connect from HS2 to Heathrow. The link to HS1 would have been sensible but the case would be a lot stronger if we were inside Schengen and could run direct trains from Manchester and Brum to Paris and Amsterdam.
    Of course we could join Schengen without rejoining the EU or even the EEA and without having free movement of labour. Just like Switzerland.

    Always seemed like the oddest thing to have opted out of, other than simply because we were an island. A massive boost for tourism in both directions, and it would free up border (and security) capacity at the ports to manage
    freight and monitor smuggling.
    Yes, I agree

    We barely count people coming in or out, so we might as well join Schengen

    Would help with the Irish border as well
    It would also mean the effective end of “boat people” in the Channel.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 13,224
    edited January 2023

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    It's often good to get an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. I've always thought AJE's coverage was great when I've caught it. Less bland than the BBC, smarter and less insular than the US networks.
    It’s actually better than BBC World, I think, certainly more insightful and interesting these last ten days I’ve been watching. Ironically they use a lot of British journos
    Yes, I've found much the same.

    By the way, the Eurocentric view of World History is remedied by reading Peter Frankopan's 'The Silk Road' which makes you appreciate how recent and anomolous Europe's prominence in World Affairs really is.
    Some years ago, I was present as a fascinating discussion as to what might’ve happened If the Norsemen had allied themselves with the native Americans they met inVinland and built up trading links across the north Atlantic.
    Given the record of Norsemen elsewhere you'd have to guess this would not have ended happily.

    Another similar question though, and one which I cannot find addressed anywhere. What if the Chinese/Japanese peoples of East Asia had 'discovered' America first and colonised it from the Continent's West Coast? And why is there no evidence of attempts to do so?

    Were they just naturally hearth-loving, or were their ships too primitive to make it a practical proposiiton?
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,727
    @Gabriel_Pogrund: BREAKING: William Shawcross, commissioner for public appointments, to review Richard Sharp’s appointment as chairma… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1617542181601812480
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,517
    kamski said:

    kamski said:

    kamski said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    And more:

    "The German government spokesperson denies the claims by Foreign Minister Baerbock who said Germany wouldn’t "stand in the way" of Poland sending its Leopards to 🇺🇦

    The spokesperson told Politico that it would have to be discussed in Germany's Federal Security Council."

    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1617481495555497985

    They make our government look positively competent and statesmanlike.

    It is a much easier decision for our government to make, though. There are obvious reasons why it would not be prudent for Germany to look as though it is taking the lead on supplying tanks. These include both the risk of giving Putin a propaganda victory in terms of comparisons with WW2 and the fact that Germany is entirely reliant on others for its nuclear deterrent.

    I expect that Germany will ultimately end up allowing the export of Leopards, but it is very much in its interests to be seen to be reluctant about doing so. This doesn't apply to the UK.
    They're not taking the lead. Loads of Soviet-era tanks were sent last year, and we've set modernish C2's. That's a really poor excuse.

    Putin's already getting a propaganda victory from this: he can show (rightly) that the west is divided. This will give him confidence that he can split the coalition against him.
    When did our tanks arrive in Ukraine?
    Not yet, as far as I know. But we're sending them, along with other kit (repair and bridging kit). Why's that of relevance?

    There's always a delay (although apparently one of 200 vehicles Canada said they were giving last week has already been lost at the front, so I think some countries are announcing things as they arrive.)
    It's relevant because we decided to send them a fortnight or so ago and we (you, mainly) seem to be castigating Germany for not immediately following our lead. Why didn't we send them six months ago if it is so obvious they need to be sent.
    Ukraine have asked specifically for the Leo 2's. And it should be noted that the Leo2 is the best choice for Ukraine: easy to maintain, with common ammo with other western kit, and available in numbers that may make a difference. As several eastern European countries operate them, maintenance kit and knowledge is also much more widespread.

    In comparison the C2's use non-standard ammo, and only have a few available. Leclercs are less numerous as well. Abrams are fuel-hungry and complex to maintain.

    But the main point is this: Germany have not even done the groundwork to send them, or even investigate what needs doing to send them. Hence the stoopid 'over a year' claim to send them from one of the arms companies.
    "Ukraine have asked specifically for the Leo 2's" - yes, and for many months.

    Ukraine have also specifically asked for Challengers, Abrams and Leclercs for many months.
    And we've sending C2's. Why won't Germany send Leo2's? Why won't they allow other countries to send them? Why haven't they done an inventory of what they have to send? Why did the outgoing defence minister stop such a survey?
    I'm just suggesting you do a tiny bit of homework before posting.

    Another example: of course they've done an inventory. According to Spiegel it was completed by May last year.

    Also why link to visegrad24 when these things have been widely reported in reputable media?
    I have done homework, thanks. How condescending of you. I often post links; you might like to do the same.

    Your defence of Germany' position over this is slightly odd. At least you appear to have moved away from "The US should send them first!" rubbish.
    Sorry for the condescension, it's just that unless I've misunderstood "Ukraine have asked specifically for the Leo 2's", you didn't seem to realise Ukraine has also been asking "specifically" for other tanks for months?

    Here's a link to the story about Germany having done a tank inventory early last summer:

    https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/ukraine-krieg-diese-leopard-panzer-koennte-die-bundeswehr-abgeben-a-5df41a86-3110-4152-82c9-02afb552d5dd

    Again, I would really prefer you to not put words into my mouth that I have not said. Which you repeatedly do. It is quite annoying, and fits with the pattern of you not bothering with facts, and being unable to tolerate any perspective that doesn't exactly fit with your prejudices.
    LOL at the last paragraph. Seriously dude?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,708
    edited January 2023
    Boris and Carrie have viewed a 9 bedroom £4.5 million mansion near Tunbridge Wells

    https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/boris-johnson-wife-carrie-viewed-8060405
  • Good afternoon

    Everton sack Frank Lampard
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,008
    Scott_xP said:

    @Gabriel_Pogrund: BREAKING: William Shawcross, commissioner for public appointments, to review Richard Sharp’s appointment as chairma… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1617542181601812480

    Any chance he could do Nadhim Zahawi's while he's about it? And why not go the whole hog and do Rishi Sunak too? Purely in the interest of efficiency.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    It's often good to get an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. I've always thought AJE's coverage was great when I've caught it. Less bland than the BBC, smarter and less insular than the US networks.
    It’s actually better than BBC World, I think, certainly more insightful and interesting these last ten days I’ve been watching. Ironically they use a lot of British journos
    Yes, I've found much the same.

    By the way, the Eurocentric view of World History is remedied by reading Peter Frankopan's 'The Silk Road' which makes you appreciate how recent and anomolous Europe's prominence in World Affairs really is.
    Some years ago, I was present as a fascinating discussion as to what might’ve happened If the Norsemen had allied themselves with the native Americans they met inVinland and built up trading links across the north Atlantic.
    Given the record of Norsemen elsewhere you'd have to guess this would not have ended happily.

    Another similar question though, and one which I cannot find addressed anywhere. What if the Chinese/Japanese peoples of East Asia had 'discovered' America first and colonised it from the Continent's West Coast? And why is there no evidence of attempts to do so?

    Were they just naturally hearth-loving, or were their ships too primitive to make it a practical proposiiton?
    The Swedish ‘Norsemen’ were a lot better on the trading front than those who travelled west. Look at Kyiv.
    As far as East Asian relationships with North America I suspect the ships just weren’t up to it. Although there is, of course, some evidence of Chinese landings in what is now Australia.

  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,583
    HYUFD said:

    Boris and Carrie have viewed a 9 bedroom £4.5 million mansion near Tunbridge Wells

    https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/boris-johnson-wife-carrie-viewed-8060405

    Who's paying?
  • Nigelb said:

    The Polish Lithuanian ... British Commonwealth.

    New poll's finds:
    🔸86% of Ukrainians support the country's accession to NATO
    🔸87% favor the accession to the EU
    🔸85% support a military and political union of Ukraine, Poland, and the UK
    🔸80% are for a union of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania

    https://mobile.twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617531862309810185

    Seems a little fanciful.

    What is % of Ukrainians in favor of becoming the 51st state?

    Doubt pollster asked THAT question . . . but reckon support would be not far south of last option listed.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 14,772

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m in a French hotel in Bangkok. Novotel. It’s very nice. Indeed it might be the perfect hotel

    High quality 4 star. Always the best compromise. So you get the excellent facilities of a lower level 5 star - nice rooftop pool, jolly good food (but no foie gras nonsense), a really brilliant gym. A peerless location - literally the best place to be in Bangkok if you want to chill and have fun in a languid way. Plenty of attentive staff but no idiotic grovelling and gold plated furniture etc

    So you pay £60 a night rather than £260 for a five star

    ANYWAY one place where they do scrimp is the TV. No mainstream English news channels - no BBC, CNN, Fox, Sky, CBS, NBC, nothing

    I rely entirely on Al Jazeera English for my TV news which gives a fascinating perspective. Conclusion: Britain is not massively important, I am sad to say. But then, neither is Germany, France, Spain, etc. It is a lesson in the diminishing importance of European nations. Britain in particular comes across as a mildly troubled rich nation with a lot of history, still a lucky country in several ways. Cold and grey however, and in need of a pick me up. But also with tons of soft power (subtly conveyed through other issues)

    The EU (taken as a whole) looms a lot larger. A weird superpower in the making

    America is seen as declining, but still very powerful. China is a massive potent enigma. Inscrutable (I am aware of these cliches). Russia is mad and mainly bad

    Africa gets a lot of attention. Fucked but there is real hope. Ditto Latin America

    The one place they over obsess about is Israel/Palestine of course. I ignore it in general, but the journalism is not useless. The journalism from Ukraine is incredible. Highly courageous (British-born journalists mainly)

    The reporting on MENA is maybe the most revelatory. Iraq is viewed as an actual democracy with normal (if deeply serious) democratic problems

    On the whole it is quite heartening, and very different from the relentless negativity of western news





    It's often good to get an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. I've always thought AJE's coverage was great when I've caught it. Less bland than the BBC, smarter and less insular than the US networks.
    It’s actually better than BBC World, I think, certainly more insightful and interesting these last ten days I’ve been watching. Ironically they use a lot of British journos
    Yes, I've found much the same.

    By the way, the Eurocentric view of World History is remedied by reading Peter Frankopan's 'The Silk Road' which makes you appreciate how recent and anomolous Europe's prominence in World Affairs really is.
    Some years ago, I was present as a fascinating discussion as to what might’ve happened If the Norsemen had allied themselves with the native Americans they met inVinland and built up trading links across the north Atlantic.
    Given the record of Norsemen elsewhere you'd have to guess this would not have ended happily.

    Another similar question though, and one which I cannot find addressed anywhere. What if the Chinese/Japanese peoples of East Asia had 'discovered' America first and colonised it from the Continent's West Coast? And why is there no evidence of attempts to do so?

    Were they just naturally hearth-loving, or were their ships too primitive to make it a practical proposiiton?
    There's a fascinating book on that subject called, "1421. The Year China Discovered The World" which contends that China took its first steps in doing precisely that, but a stop was put to it for political reasons. You could then make the argument that it was European political disunity, and the consequent competition between European states, that drove that contingent to global preeminence, while the more unified polity of China prioritised stability to ensure its survival.

    But I think there's some suggestion the book is better suited to the fiction section. An interesting read nevertheless.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,557
    edited January 2023
    Still has some way to go on the Trump question.

    ChatGPT has a tendency to hedge, so I wrote a script that successively sharpens the response until I get a concrete answer.

    Every time we get a sentence back, we ask GPT-3 if those words were hedging. If so, we delete the vagueisms & prefix with phrases that drive specificity.

    https://twitter.com/danielgross/status/1617542734591434755
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614

    HYUFD said:

    Boris and Carrie have viewed a 9 bedroom £4.5 million mansion near Tunbridge Wells

    https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/boris-johnson-wife-carrie-viewed-8060405

    Who's paying?
    Some publisher has obviously just handed him the memoir advance!
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,727
    @JohnRentoul: Andrew Cooper, former Tory peer, joins Conservatives for Keir, via @christopherhope
    https://twitter.com/JohnRentoul/status/1617545569253363712/photo/1
  • HYUFD said:

    Boris and Carrie have viewed a 9 bedroom £4.5 million mansion near Tunbridge Wells

    https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/boris-johnson-wife-carrie-viewed-8060405

    Who's paying?
    The Great British Taxpayer . . . one way OR another OR another OR another . . .
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 19,598
    Scott_xP said:

    @JohnRentoul: Andrew Cooper, former Tory peer, joins Conservatives for Keir, via @christopherhope
    https://twitter.com/JohnRentoul/status/1617545569253363712/photo/1

    BOOM! (was that him?)

    (actually I think Cooper is poll ramping wally)
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766
    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    pigeon said:

    eek said:

    FPT

    It was a deal, a steal, sale of the f##king century...

    His predecessor Carwyn Jones paid £52m to nationalise Cardiff Airport in 2013 and it has subsequently been necessary to write off more than £40m of taxpayer loans to keep the business afloat.

    No longer able to support the business with state loans, Mr Drakeford’s administration has opted to bankroll the business through government grants.

    Cardiff Airport is now being labelled the “biggest money-pit of all” after Mr Drakeford enraged opposition leaders by injecting huge sums into a series of widely-criticised public initiatives.

    The airport's £8.9m grant for the year to March 2022 was significantly higher than the £2.5m received in the previous year.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/23/cardiff-airport-labelled-mark-drakefords-biggest-money-pit/

    See also Teesside airport - but you have to remember that you need a regional airport to encourage businesses to invest. A lot of firms won't look at anywhere which requires them driving further than absolutely necessary.

    Hence Cardiff has an airport because without it no-one would invest in Wales. Likewise (thinking of the Friday flights from Schiphol) Norwich, Southampton and Exeter all of whom had 80 people who needed to fly from there on a Monday and back on a Friday.
    And one could argue that Cardiff - which has a potential catchment of over 1m - is much more deserving of its own airport than any of the others.
    Except that, as one of the big airline bosses recently stated again in the press, Cardiff Airport is in the wrong place. Stuck out in the sticks in the Vale of Glamorgan when it really needs to be located next to the main railway line and the M4. It's not even convenient for the people of Cardiff, let alone all the well-heeled residents of Bristol and the Cotswolds that it would need to be serving to have any chance of breaking even.

    It's a classic example of a vanity project, and of the perils of throwing good money after bad. A failed enterprise that the Welsh Government daren't pull the plug on, because it would then be pilloried for the enormous waste of limited and desperately needed funds on a white elephant, and because of the affront to national pride. Thus the subsidies continue.
    Regional aviation is totally screwed by LHR not having that new runway a decade ago. Small planes don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of a landing slot, so everyone drives miles instead.

    Somewhere like Teeside could be revolutionised with a flight to London every couple of hours.
    From an environmental perspective, this is madness. I used to fly Edinburgh - London City quite a lot and I'm still not over the shame of it.
    A lot of the traffic would be transfers through LHR, going to New York or Milan. Serving Heathrow from regional airports, makes those regions more attractive places to live.

    LCY is the best airport in the world! Five minutes from the taxi rank to the gate, and rarely more than 10 in the other direction!
    I used to live near Tower Bridge, and would regularly catch the 7:50am Air France flight to Paris. I would frequently leave my house at 7am, and make my plane without stress.
This discussion has been closed.