I deal with housing in a professional context. The thing with this 'tory members going mad about housing targets' is that it is not a trivial concern of 0.8% of the population, there is mass disillusionment with the system of planning the Conservatives introduced in 2012. In very simple terms, the government directed that Council's have to plan for, approve and deliver X houses or else developers can build anywhere as long as there is no significant harm. The actual system of making a plan is a byzantine, adversarial process that is picked apart at every stage by warring land speculators/private interests and their KCs. It takes about 5 years, costs millions and many never happen at all. While you are making a plan, the government keep changing the rules, the 'mutant algorhythm' thing that you sometimes hear about, ie doubling the amount of housing you have to provide, with a flick of a pen, etc. Then of course the government also defund the local authorities that have to make these plans through 'austerity', just to make it even more impossible. It was really just a cynical ploy on the part of government to get housing delivered without taking any responsibility for the difficult decisions: a dysfunctional bureaucracy to make seemingly absurd decisions in the hope that people would blame Council's or planning Inspectors for it. The current thing that you hear about 'saving the housing targets' is best interpreted as a campaign by the development industry and their professional advisors to keep the current system going because they have built an entire industry around how to profit from the existing structural uncertainty. The actual solution is to resolve the structural uncertainty by government taking and owning difficult political decisions about where new housing and associated development goes.
An interesting different perspective. I would be more than happy if housing targets are abolished and replaced with something better that facilitates more housebuilding than the current set up. But we cannot afford a slow down in construction for a whole variety of reasons both macro and need based.
Yes but I think that the slowdown in construction will happen anyway because of excessive build costs. This is something I will keep bringing up so sorry if I am boring people. There is currently a disproportionate rise in the cost of building houses due increases material and labour costs and the compliance with new regulation (largely environmental based). The experience of the last recession is that new build development will just stop completely in large parts of the country because there is no profit in it, the industry will be mothballed. In Housing targets just fade in to irrelevance in this context. This is a political debate concentrated in the south east and home counties.
So how do we improve supply of materials and reduce costs? So many of the trees we grow seem to end up producing pellets for biofuels but surely we can redirect timber to construction with the right incentives. Why is it so hard to make bricks at a profit in this country? This is something the government should be looking at. I agree the new housebuilding I want has to be profitable.
David , you have seen the state of the clowns and crooks running teh country, majority struggle to tie their shoelaces. We are led by donkeys, their pals and relatives etc. When dross like that can get total control of teh country and the great unwashed think they are great it is not hard to see why we are in the crap.
Curiously, Wings is struggling to find any reference to this £110k motorhome in either the accounts or the election expenses: https://wingsoverscotland.com/ It's almost as if they were running 2 sets of accounts.
I think it was accounts lite and the rest in cash to back pocket. How those idiots on the NEC allowed it is incredible. The few with brains who understood they were liable for any missing funds got out and all the thick grifting sockpuppets just followed orders. Only saw mentioned once that it was Surgeon that shut down discussion on the finances as well.
Sturgeon could end up in chokey for this
They could have adjoining cells with a bit of self ID
Either we go fully fascist, (ie deportation regardless of circumstances, no asylum hearings etc etc) or we try to set up fortress UK stopping people getting in in the first place, or we accept we can't really control immigration and try to just limit it to an acceptable level.
I can't see any alternatives.
My preferred alternative would be a fairly liberal legal immigration policy (apply at any Embassy, get accepted quite promptly if you're in serious personal danger or you've got a useful skill) balanced by minimal willingness to consider applications from people who just turn up (hotels, barges, long delays etc.). The reason Government policy excites such derision is partly that it doesn't work but also that the legal option barely exists. If I live in Libya and hope to come to Britain, I'll naturally choose to apply from home if I think there's a better chance of acceptance and it'll go much more quickly than if I try the small boat option. Instead, we operate a sort of Hunger Games policy giving the best chance to people who brave the Channel.
This is the most pathetic failure. No getting round it
Hundreds of millions spent to deport ZERO people
There was always a decent chance that would happen.
Damn stupid to spend and promise so much without getting legal ducks lined up.
The truth which no one wants to speak is that, there is no way to control immigration once people are in the country.
We are not going to deport large numbers of people. Certainly nothing near compared with people arriving.
We should be honest, bite the bullet, and just give everyone currently in the country leave to remain.
Of course, that would be electoral suicide, so we get posturing and stunts which are only designed for the media.
But that would be national suicide of a different kind. There are 2 billion people who would like to live in the UK. Once word gets out we’ve simply bothered trying to stop people getting in, and we let you stay once you’re here, then they will come
The problem is HMG is simply too spineless to try the brutal methods that might actually work - and save lives and prevent strife further down the line
Indeed thats the crux of the matter.
Either we go fully fascist, (ie deportation regardless of circumstances, no asylum hearings etc etc) or we try to set up fortress UK stopping people getting in in the first place, or we accept we can't really control immigration and try to just limit it to an acceptable level.
I can't see any alternatives.
Make working with out a documented right to work here impossible, and suddenly the attractiveness will fade.
See my idea for £100K fines, with half going to the undocumented worker who gives evidence. Plus indefinite leave to remain.
One side-effect will be making it harder for under-identified locals to get a job. My own employer had to stretch a point for me once, as I had none of the approved paperwork. Common sense prevailed but in the face of a six-figure fine, it might not.
Why do we need a rising population when AI is about to take over millions of jobs?
I know I bang on about this, but it is like some massive cognitive dissonance
Why do we sell off essential industries if we're planning for an AI future ? Ownership will be more important, not less, in a world where employment isn't a thing.
Manufacturing (for example) isn't going to disappear, even of the jobs do. If the UK has abandoned such things, we'll be fncked.
Perhaps the Gov't should just open a shop on the beaches of Calais and sell visas to the UK for £5,000 a pop ? Take the people trafficker middlemen out of the equation.
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
Oh Nick seriously mate
Have you never stood in Solidarity FFS
They are not exactly blocking hospital entrances and calling patients scabs
SKS was on the McDonalds Picket Line when he wanted to be leader calling for them to get £15 an hr now he is not willing to stand with Drs asking for restoration of pay who are currently on as little as £14
Its disgusting I am surprised at you for not calling it out
The polls seem to have narrowed slightly with Labour still in double digits and we now have articles about the Tories winning a fifth time. Doesn't this all feel a bit Labour 2019 here is how Corbyn can still win vibes?
Governments can set whatever house targets they can pluck out of their arses, but there is one truth they can't deny. In this country, we don't have anywhere near enough skilled trades people to build 'em. Successive Governments have encouraged university over apprenticeships, steered our youth into easy, comfortable jobs rather than getting their hands dirty building something. Another factor is a stupid focus on creating narrow expertise jobs. Years ago, a chippy would be a general purpose wood butcher, in at the very start doing shuttering for the foundations to the very end doing second fixing of skirting and architrave. Now we have different trades for different tasks. Window fitters don't touch anything else, a roofer won't fancy doing architrave. There is a massive construction skills desert in this country, and we just don't encourage people to go into the trade.
At current trade rates it should not be a problem enticing young people to go into these trades with a higher starting salary...
I have long thought many who feel peer pressure to go to university would be far better taking an apprenticeship and learning while earning
I hear labour's grand idea of spending 28 billion a year over 5 years insulating 19 million homes but this is another promise that is undeliverable..
If we'd done that before the Ukraine energy price spike, that might actually have paid for itself.
I have yet to see them identify the 19 million (ie 70%) of homes that are uninsulated.
Or where the money is coming from, given that according to Starmer the Tories are the party of High Tax and we have the highest tax burden ever.
I'd say he'll bait and switch to then compare our tax burden with our European peers, where it is in the approx lowest quarter, and high tax will miraculously no longer be a party phenomenon, but will be down to global trends.
A long-awaited spate of dealmaking broke out last night with a flurry of private equity-backed takeover approaches for mid-cap London companies worth more than £6 billion.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals said after the market had closed that it was in talks over a possible £4.6 billion cash bid from EQT, a Swedish private equity firm, in a deal backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The approach for Dechra came after Network International had confirmed earlier that it had received a “preliminary and conditional” proposal from CVC Capital Partners and Francisco Partners, the private equity firms. Shares in the emerging markets-focused payments company closed up 23.1 per cent, or 56½p, at 300p, valuing the company at £1.6 billion, still below its float price of four years ago.
A wave of bids for London-listed companies from overseas buyers had been expected after the pound weakened last year against the dollar. A poll by Numis, the investment bank, found that 88 per cent of FTSE directors regarded British companies as vulnerable to takeovers, with private equity groups tipped to target medium-sized firms with strong cashflow generation trading at depressed valuations.
Brexit has made Britain deeply undervalued. BP trades at half the p/e valuation of Exxon.
Sadly this will increase the trade deficit even further. Britain is becoming a branch economy, owned overseas.
It merely an acceleration of overseas owners buying cash generative UK based businesses, a process that's been going on for a long time.
That's one of the downsides of Thatcherite free market dogma in a world which certainly does not reciprocate.
Jesus, the usual bollocks about Brexit being at the root of everything from people looking to ram the issue into every conversation. The actual reasons why UK equities are not attractive are:
1. The UK indices are heavily old economy weighted (which is why the UK actually did well at the start of the year).
2. UK fund managers are generally unimpressive and tend to be all about cash preservation not growth. Dividends is the obsession of many of them.
3. The UK gold-platted Mifid 2 - EU legislation by the way - which led to a decline in smaller cap stocks in particular being covered because it was unprofitable unless you were the broker / did investment banking business with the firm. Many small companies have only the house broker covering them, or a firm like Edison (paid research) both of which are not seen as independent.
It is truly remarkable how Brexit gets shoehorned into everything.
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
Oh Nick seriously mate
Have you never stood in Solidarity FFS
They are not exactly blocking hospital entrances and calling patients scabs
SKS was on the McDonalds Picket Line when he wanted to be leader calling for them to get £15 an hr now he is not willing to stand with Drs asking for restoration of pay who are currently on as little as £14
Its disgusting I am surprised at you for not calling it out
Not arguing against solidarity picketing! Just saying it wasn't an anti-strike quote as you described it!
Starmer wants rid of Angela Rayner. It's no secret, certainly not since he already tried and was stopped from getting shot of the elected deputy leader role.
Starmer wants rid of Angela Rayner. It's no secret, certainly not since he already tried and was stopped from getting shot of the elected deputy leader role.
Yes not sure Reeves is playing a clever tactical game. Too closely associated with SKS.
Looks like advantage Cooper to me who is keeping her distance and was clearly unhappy with the disgusting attack ads
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
I interpreted that as having a pop at lefty rentamob, which seems fine.
I deal with housing in a professional context. The thing with this 'tory members going mad about housing targets' is that it is not a trivial concern of 0.8% of the population, there is mass disillusionment with the system of planning the Conservatives introduced in 2012. In very simple terms, the government directed that Council's have to plan for, approve and deliver X houses or else developers can build anywhere as long as there is no significant harm. The actual system of making a plan is a byzantine, adversarial process that is picked apart at every stage by warring land speculators/private interests and their KCs. It takes about 5 years, costs millions and many never happen at all. While you are making a plan, the government keep changing the rules, the 'mutant algorhythm' thing that you sometimes hear about, ie doubling the amount of housing you have to provide, with a flick of a pen, etc. Then of course the government also defund the local authorities that have to make these plans through 'austerity', just to make it even more impossible. It was really just a cynical ploy on the part of government to get housing delivered without taking any responsibility for the difficult decisions: a dysfunctional bureaucracy to make seemingly absurd decisions in the hope that people would blame Council's or planning Inspectors for it. The current thing that you hear about 'saving the housing targets' is best interpreted as a campaign by the development industry and their professional advisors to keep the current system going because they have built an entire industry around how to profit from the existing structural uncertainty. The actual solution is to resolve the structural uncertainty by government taking and owning difficult political decisions about where new housing and associated development goes.
An interesting different perspective. I would be more than happy if housing targets are abolished and replaced with something better that facilitates more housebuilding than the current set up. But we cannot afford a slow down in construction for a whole variety of reasons both macro and need based.
Yes but I think that the slowdown in construction will happen anyway because of excessive build costs. This is something I will keep bringing up so sorry if I am boring people. There is currently a disproportionate rise in the cost of building houses due increases material and labour costs and the compliance with new regulation (largely environmental based). The experience of the last recession is that new build development will just stop completely in large parts of the country because there is no profit in it, the industry will be mothballed. In Housing targets just fade in to irrelevance in this context. This is a political debate concentrated in the south east and home counties.
So how do we improve supply of materials and reduce costs? So many of the trees we grow seem to end up producing pellets for biofuels but surely we can redirect timber to construction with the right incentives. Why is it so hard to make bricks at a profit in this country? This is something the government should be looking at. I agree the new housebuilding I want has to be profitable.
I think the materials issue is a consequence of Ukraine and Covid legacy supply chain issues. The answer to labour costs rising is either through cutting the minimum wage (unlikely) or automation. Regarding the latter, the prefab/factory houses idea is a good one but the costs are higher than traditional blockwork construction. The reason developers go for it is certainty and speed rather than cost.
The question is the services - electrical, water, gas. And, I should add*, network. These are where money gets spent and a lot of time on fit out. Throwing up block walls takes very little time. As does covering walls with insulation boards.
*If you are doing a property yourself, hardwire with Cat 6.
Wifi is now good enough for most families, and indeed most companies.
Have fun with installing foil layered insulation in your home. Also, unless your house is tiny, the wifi mesh solutions are rubbish.
I'm reworking a house at the moment. The plan is Cat 6 to every room. With a combined PoE Wifi point/mini switch (4 ethernet sockets) in each room.
Then all you need is a network switch to plug the Cat 6 into....
If you do it while you are building, it costs pretty much nothing. A bit of cable, and an extra socket in each room.
And if you'd hardwired with cat 4 or even cat 5 you'd now be looking at rewiring. I've spent the last couple of decades working for multinational and global tech companies and for office IT they've largely switched to wifi even though their buildings are already cabled.
I’ve only got 2 cats, both tabbies. Do I need to get some more? I know somebody with some kittens.
No mention of SNP on Sturgeon’s bio. But maybe there never was?
A 30 second check of eg Flynn, Robertson and Cherry’s twitter accounts suggest no, it is not true. How prominent is prominent?
The only other example given is mhairi wotsname. So I suspect this is nothing. Tho the timing - right after Brian Cox suggested a name change, and as rumours swirl of party bankruptcy - is piquant
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
I interpreted that as having a pop at lefty rentamob, which seems fine.
Are you a Labour voter?
83% of people support the strikes and there is no rentamob element its about some people wishing to show their Solidarity
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
Oh Nick seriously mate
Have you never stood in Solidarity FFS
They are not exactly blocking hospital entrances and calling patients scabs
SKS was on the McDonalds Picket Line when he wanted to be leader calling for them to get £15 an hr now he is not willing to stand with Drs asking for restoration of pay who are currently on as little as £14
Its disgusting I am surprised at you for not calling it out
Not arguing against solidarity picketing! Just saying it wasn't an anti-strike quote as you described it!
If the plan is to build enough houses to significantly reduce house prices in the Home Counties, then the policy is to transfer a massive amount of wealth from existing homeowners to housing developers. It's not surprising it arouses opposition.
It's completely bonkers that a non-productive asset is seen as a great investment by so many people, and we even celebrate the prices going up! I'd vote for almost anyone who could bring house prices crashing down and get people off of the "my house is my pension" mindset. It's an insane way to run an economy.
The problem is that the building cost of a property is roughly what it sells for, plus a few percent.
Crash house prices, and it won't be profitable to build. Not unless construction costs collapse alongside.
Sorry, this doesn’t make sense to me. The building cost of a property cannot be what it sells for plus a few percent. I deduce this because the same size and type of properties sell for many multiples more in some locations than others. It can’t cost much more to build a property in leafy Hampstead as it does in Gourock, Scotland, yet property prices are completely different.
A long-awaited spate of dealmaking broke out last night with a flurry of private equity-backed takeover approaches for mid-cap London companies worth more than £6 billion.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals said after the market had closed that it was in talks over a possible £4.6 billion cash bid from EQT, a Swedish private equity firm, in a deal backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The approach for Dechra came after Network International had confirmed earlier that it had received a “preliminary and conditional” proposal from CVC Capital Partners and Francisco Partners, the private equity firms. Shares in the emerging markets-focused payments company closed up 23.1 per cent, or 56½p, at 300p, valuing the company at £1.6 billion, still below its float price of four years ago.
A wave of bids for London-listed companies from overseas buyers had been expected after the pound weakened last year against the dollar. A poll by Numis, the investment bank, found that 88 per cent of FTSE directors regarded British companies as vulnerable to takeovers, with private equity groups tipped to target medium-sized firms with strong cashflow generation trading at depressed valuations.
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
Oh Nick seriously mate
Have you never stood in Solidarity FFS
They are not exactly blocking hospital entrances and calling patients scabs
SKS was on the McDonalds Picket Line when he wanted to be leader calling for them to get £15 an hr now he is not willing to stand with Drs asking for restoration of pay who are currently on as little as £14
Its disgusting I am surprised at you for not calling it out
Not arguing against solidarity picketing! Just saying it wasn't an anti-strike quote as you described it!
Its not Solidarity either though is it?
I am so happy that I am no longer part of that movement. The absolutism is exhausting. What does "standing in solidarity" even mean? The picket line isn't the strike, the not being at work is the strike. Standing there is a visual demo of "we are on strike, please support us". But the people who aren't on strike?
I absolutely support people joining a union - and think more people should do so. And the right to strike. All of that. But the absolutist "you must back this" or you are being disgusting? Bugger that.
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
I interpreted that as having a pop at lefty rentamob, which seems fine.
Are you a Labour voter?
83% of people support the strikes and there is no rentamob element its about some people wishing to show their Solidarity
Even if that number is correct, and this is a poll on GMB who regularly trot out GP's to parrot the Union line on any health issue, it does not mean they support them getting 35% as a pay award.
People are happy to support any cause they like, but when they understand what it entails, or would cost them, then this support starts to fall away.
A long-awaited spate of dealmaking broke out last night with a flurry of private equity-backed takeover approaches for mid-cap London companies worth more than £6 billion.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals said after the market had closed that it was in talks over a possible £4.6 billion cash bid from EQT, a Swedish private equity firm, in a deal backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The approach for Dechra came after Network International had confirmed earlier that it had received a “preliminary and conditional” proposal from CVC Capital Partners and Francisco Partners, the private equity firms. Shares in the emerging markets-focused payments company closed up 23.1 per cent, or 56½p, at 300p, valuing the company at £1.6 billion, still below its float price of four years ago.
A wave of bids for London-listed companies from overseas buyers had been expected after the pound weakened last year against the dollar. A poll by Numis, the investment bank, found that 88 per cent of FTSE directors regarded British companies as vulnerable to takeovers, with private equity groups tipped to target medium-sized firms with strong cashflow generation trading at depressed valuations.
A long-awaited spate of dealmaking broke out last night with a flurry of private equity-backed takeover approaches for mid-cap London companies worth more than £6 billion.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals said after the market had closed that it was in talks over a possible £4.6 billion cash bid from EQT, a Swedish private equity firm, in a deal backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The approach for Dechra came after Network International had confirmed earlier that it had received a “preliminary and conditional” proposal from CVC Capital Partners and Francisco Partners, the private equity firms. Shares in the emerging markets-focused payments company closed up 23.1 per cent, or 56½p, at 300p, valuing the company at £1.6 billion, still below its float price of four years ago.
A wave of bids for London-listed companies from overseas buyers had been expected after the pound weakened last year against the dollar. A poll by Numis, the investment bank, found that 88 per cent of FTSE directors regarded British companies as vulnerable to takeovers, with private equity groups tipped to target medium-sized firms with strong cashflow generation trading at depressed valuations.
Brexit has made Britain deeply undervalued. BP trades at half the p/e valuation of Exxon.
Sadly this will increase the trade deficit even further. Britain is becoming a branch economy, owned overseas.
It merely an acceleration of overseas owners buying cash generative UK based businesses, a process that's been going on for a long time.
That's one of the downsides of Thatcherite free market dogma in a world which certainly does not reciprocate.
Jesus, the usual bollocks about Brexit being at the root of everything
Who mentioned Brexit, you pillock ?
Gardenwalker did upthread. "Brexit has made Britain deeply undervalued"
This is the argument - our self-harm Brexit deal has devalued our economy and made investing here a niche activity. Which then devalues companies and leaves them prone to being picked up by non-UK companies.
Don't worry though - we know that UK jobs are perfectly safe when we sell everything off abroad. Those off-shore boards where the UK is a small part of their overall business always do right by us.
A long-awaited spate of dealmaking broke out last night with a flurry of private equity-backed takeover approaches for mid-cap London companies worth more than £6 billion.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals said after the market had closed that it was in talks over a possible £4.6 billion cash bid from EQT, a Swedish private equity firm, in a deal backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The approach for Dechra came after Network International had confirmed earlier that it had received a “preliminary and conditional” proposal from CVC Capital Partners and Francisco Partners, the private equity firms. Shares in the emerging markets-focused payments company closed up 23.1 per cent, or 56½p, at 300p, valuing the company at £1.6 billion, still below its float price of four years ago.
A wave of bids for London-listed companies from overseas buyers had been expected after the pound weakened last year against the dollar. A poll by Numis, the investment bank, found that 88 per cent of FTSE directors regarded British companies as vulnerable to takeovers, with private equity groups tipped to target medium-sized firms with strong cashflow generation trading at depressed valuations.
Brexit has made Britain deeply undervalued. BP trades at half the p/e valuation of Exxon.
Sadly this will increase the trade deficit even further. Britain is becoming a branch economy, owned overseas.
It merely an acceleration of overseas owners buying cash generative UK based businesses, a process that's been going on for a long time.
That's one of the downsides of Thatcherite free market dogma in a world which certainly does not reciprocate.
Jesus, the usual bollocks about Brexit being at the root of everything from people looking to ram the issue into every conversation. The actual reasons why UK equities are not attractive are:
1. The UK indices are heavily old economy weighted (which is why the UK actually did well at the start of the year).
2. UK fund managers are generally unimpressive and tend to be all about cash preservation not growth. Dividends is the obsession of many of them.
3. The UK gold-platted Mifid 2 - EU legislation by the way - which led to a decline in smaller cap stocks in particular being covered because it was unprofitable unless you were the broker / did investment banking business with the firm. Many small companies have only the house broker covering them, or a firm like Edison (paid research) both of which are not seen as independent.
It is truly remarkable how Brexit gets shoehorned into everything.
Who mentioned Brexit? Thatcherite free market dogma! The problem (well, one of them) is that Britain is for sale because our politicians have a naive faith in free markets but other countries take a more strategic view of their own interests, with Europe and the United States perfectly happy to block foreign sales.
As for British fund managers, the sooner Leon's 4th gen AI takes charge of my paltry pension pot, the better.
Does anywhere else in the world offer an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores ?
Numerous countries provide accommodation for those seeking asylum. I don’t think anywhere offers an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores, but then nor do we.
We deport lots of people who rock up. Some are literally on the next plane back. If the Government resource the system adequately, we’d be deporting more people more quickly.
This is the most pathetic failure. No getting round it
Hundreds of millions spent to deport ZERO people
There was always a decent chance that would happen.
Damn stupid to spend and promise so much without getting legal ducks lined up.
The truth which no one wants to speak is that, there is no way to control immigration once people are in the country.
We are not going to deport large numbers of people. Certainly nothing near compared with people arriving.
We should be honest, bite the bullet, and just give everyone currently in the country leave to remain.
Of course, that would be electoral suicide, so we get posturing and stunts which are only designed for the media.
But that would be national suicide of a different kind. There are 2 billion people who would like to live in the UK. Once word gets out we’ve simply bothered trying to stop people getting in, and we let you stay once you’re here, then they will come
The problem is HMG is simply too spineless to try the brutal methods that might actually work - and save lives and prevent strife further down the line
Indeed thats the crux of the matter.
Either we go fully fascist, (ie deportation regardless of circumstances, no asylum hearings etc etc) or we try to set up fortress UK stopping people getting in in the first place, or we accept we can't really control immigration and try to just limit it to an acceptable level.
I can't see any alternatives.
How long is the area of beach where the boat people actually arrive ?
Margate to Eastbourne ? Dungeness to Dover ?
Broadly the Rye/Camber sands area to Hythe/Folkestone. Further west the crossing's too long, then from Dover on you have cliffs until you get near Thanet when, again, the length of crossing becomes an issue.
Thanks. With questions like this, it’s always useful to get an answer from an aquatic mammal.
A long-awaited spate of dealmaking broke out last night with a flurry of private equity-backed takeover approaches for mid-cap London companies worth more than £6 billion.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals said after the market had closed that it was in talks over a possible £4.6 billion cash bid from EQT, a Swedish private equity firm, in a deal backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The approach for Dechra came after Network International had confirmed earlier that it had received a “preliminary and conditional” proposal from CVC Capital Partners and Francisco Partners, the private equity firms. Shares in the emerging markets-focused payments company closed up 23.1 per cent, or 56½p, at 300p, valuing the company at £1.6 billion, still below its float price of four years ago.
A wave of bids for London-listed companies from overseas buyers had been expected after the pound weakened last year against the dollar. A poll by Numis, the investment bank, found that 88 per cent of FTSE directors regarded British companies as vulnerable to takeovers, with private equity groups tipped to target medium-sized firms with strong cashflow generation trading at depressed valuations.
Brexit has made Britain deeply undervalued. BP trades at half the p/e valuation of Exxon.
Sadly this will increase the trade deficit even further. Britain is becoming a branch economy, owned overseas.
It merely an acceleration of overseas owners buying cash generative UK based businesses, a process that's been going on for a long time.
That's one of the downsides of Thatcherite free market dogma in a world which certainly does not reciprocate.
Jesus, the usual bollocks about Brexit being at the root of everything from people looking to ram the issue into every conversation. The actual reasons why UK equities are not attractive are:
1. The UK indices are heavily old economy weighted (which is why the UK actually did well at the start of the year).
2. UK fund managers are generally unimpressive and tend to be all about cash preservation not growth. Dividends is the obsession of many of them.
3. The UK gold-platted Mifid 2 - EU legislation by the way - which led to a decline in smaller cap stocks in particular being covered because it was unprofitable unless you were the broker / did investment banking business with the firm. Many small companies have only the house broker covering them, or a firm like Edison (paid research) both of which are not seen as independent.
It is truly remarkable how Brexit gets shoehorned into everything.
Who mentioned Brexit? Thatcherite free market dogma! The problem (well, one of them) is that Britain is for sale because our politicians have a naive faith in free markets but other countries take a more strategic view of their own interests, with Europe and the United States perfectly happy to block foreign sales.
As for British fund managers, the sooner Leon's 4th gen AI takes charge of my paltry pension pot, the better.
A long-awaited spate of dealmaking broke out last night with a flurry of private equity-backed takeover approaches for mid-cap London companies worth more than £6 billion.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals said after the market had closed that it was in talks over a possible £4.6 billion cash bid from EQT, a Swedish private equity firm, in a deal backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The approach for Dechra came after Network International had confirmed earlier that it had received a “preliminary and conditional” proposal from CVC Capital Partners and Francisco Partners, the private equity firms. Shares in the emerging markets-focused payments company closed up 23.1 per cent, or 56½p, at 300p, valuing the company at £1.6 billion, still below its float price of four years ago.
A wave of bids for London-listed companies from overseas buyers had been expected after the pound weakened last year against the dollar. A poll by Numis, the investment bank, found that 88 per cent of FTSE directors regarded British companies as vulnerable to takeovers, with private equity groups tipped to target medium-sized firms with strong cashflow generation trading at depressed valuations.
Does anywhere else in the world offer an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores ?
Numerous countries provide accommodation for those seeking asylum. I don’t think anywhere offers an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores, but then nor do we.
We deport lots of people who rock up. Some are literally on the next plane back. If the Government resource the system adequately, we’d be deporting more people more quickly.
And that's actually the issue - a lot of people are now staying here so long their end up remaining on humanitarian grounds because they've been here 4+ years.
We really should be focussing more money on the resources required to process cases quickly.
A long-awaited spate of dealmaking broke out last night with a flurry of private equity-backed takeover approaches for mid-cap London companies worth more than £6 billion.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals said after the market had closed that it was in talks over a possible £4.6 billion cash bid from EQT, a Swedish private equity firm, in a deal backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The approach for Dechra came after Network International had confirmed earlier that it had received a “preliminary and conditional” proposal from CVC Capital Partners and Francisco Partners, the private equity firms. Shares in the emerging markets-focused payments company closed up 23.1 per cent, or 56½p, at 300p, valuing the company at £1.6 billion, still below its float price of four years ago.
A wave of bids for London-listed companies from overseas buyers had been expected after the pound weakened last year against the dollar. A poll by Numis, the investment bank, found that 88 per cent of FTSE directors regarded British companies as vulnerable to takeovers, with private equity groups tipped to target medium-sized firms with strong cashflow generation trading at depressed valuations.
It could be - probably is - sheer coincidence and/or nothing at all. But how delightful to speculate that the SNP is so fucked that they are going to disband and change their name
This is the most pathetic failure. No getting round it
Hundreds of millions spent to deport ZERO people
There was always a decent chance that would happen.
Damn stupid to spend and promise so much without getting legal ducks lined up.
The truth which no one wants to speak is that, there is no way to control immigration once people are in the country.
We are not going to deport large numbers of people. Certainly nothing near compared with people arriving.
We should be honest, bite the bullet, and just give everyone currently in the country leave to remain.
Of course, that would be electoral suicide, so we get posturing and stunts which are only designed for the media.
But that would be national suicide of a different kind. There are 2 billion people who would like to live in the UK. Once word gets out we’ve simply bothered trying to stop people getting in, and we let you stay once you’re here, then they will come
The problem is HMG is simply too spineless to try the brutal methods that might actually work - and save lives and prevent strife further down the line
Indeed thats the crux of the matter.
Either we go fully fascist, (ie deportation regardless of circumstances, no asylum hearings etc etc) or we try to set up fortress UK stopping people getting in in the first place, or we accept we can't really control immigration and try to just limit it to an acceptable level.
I can't see any alternatives.
How long is the area of beach where the boat people actually arrive ?
Margate to Eastbourne ? Dungeness to Dover ?
Broadly the Rye/Camber sands area to Hythe/Folkestone. Further west the crossing's too long, then from Dover on you have cliffs until you get near Thanet when, again, the length of crossing becomes an issue.
Thanks. With questions like this, it’s always useful to get an answer from an aquatic mammal.
Does anywhere else in the world offer an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores ?
Numerous countries provide accommodation for those seeking asylum. I don’t think anywhere offers an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores, but then nor do we.
We deport lots of people who rock up. Some are literally on the next plane back. If the Government resource the system adequately, we’d be deporting more people more quickly.
And that's actually the issue - a lot of people are now staying here so long their end up remaining on humanitarian grounds because they've been here 4+ years.
We really should be focussing more money on the resources required to process cases quickly.
How far would the £140 million Priti Patel spent on the Rwandan PR stunt have gone in helping with this?
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
I interpreted that as having a pop at lefty rentamob, which seems fine.
Are you a Labour voter?
83% of people support the strikes and there is no rentamob element its about some people wishing to show their Solidarity
Not really sure what my vote has to do with it. I've voted in various directions, though next time locally is looking quite like a row of three phalluses at this point.
The 50s excerpt quoted in that tweet - used to (falsely imo) suggest "anti-strike" is a carefully selected snip from a 5 minute interview about the Sam Tarry case wrt the Rail Strike in August 2022, and his various off-piste actions as a shadow minister. The charge of "not understanding solidarity" does not seem to fit, to me.
Does anywhere else in the world offer an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores ?
Numerous countries provide accommodation for those seeking asylum. I don’t think anywhere offers an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores, but then nor do we.
We deport lots of people who rock up. Some are literally on the next plane back. If the Government resource the system adequately, we’d be deporting more people more quickly.
And that's actually the issue - a lot of people are now staying here so long their end up remaining on humanitarian grounds because they've been here 4+ years.
We really should be focussing more money on the resources required to process cases quickly.
How far would the £140 million Priti Patel spent on the Rwandan PR stunt have gone in helping with this?
Mr. Brooke, Germany ending its nuclear power plants after the Japanese tsunami/earthquake was obviously nuts at the time.
Mr. F, blimey, I was only vaguely aware of Sporus, didn't realise he suffered at the hands of Otho and Vitellius as well.
For all its achievements, the Roman Empire was a place of appalling cruelty, and definitely not the kind of liberal paradise that Gibbon envisaged. Gibbon, however, was completely uninterested in women, the lower classes, slaves, and simply saw himself reflected in the elite.
I've always thought life in the Roman Empire would have been pretty shit unless you were part of the elite or landed gentry. But, that and the legions are all we ever hear about.
That was why when the Legions left England the people abandoned the towns and industry, and went back to subsistence farming. Once the state violence stopped, people could live as they wanted.
They didn't "go back to subsistence farming" so much as the the ones who weren't subsistence farming under the Romans (quite a few), found that the support base for non-subsistence farming contracted massively. And had to do substance farming or starve to death.
No one *choses* subsistence farming. Even when the alternatives are quite horrible.
It does seem like a rather rosy view of what 'subsistence' means in practice. There's a bit of a trend of romanticising the idea.
It could be - probably is - sheer coincidence and/or nothing at all. But how delightful to speculate that the SNP is so fucked that they are going to disband and change their name
There was a storm in a teacup the other week at the Tories doing the same with their brand. With very similar comments from those at the other end of the political spectrum as you regarding toxic brands.
Wiki graph updated. Average line now 44-29. Approx one month ago it was 47.5-26.
NB. There is a persistent IT problem with the graph on the main page being out of date. You actually have to click on the graph itself to get the latest version.
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
Oh Nick seriously mate
Have you never stood in Solidarity FFS
They are not exactly blocking hospital entrances and calling patients scabs
SKS was on the McDonalds Picket Line when he wanted to be leader calling for them to get £15 an hr now he is not willing to stand with Drs asking for restoration of pay who are currently on as little as £14
Its disgusting I am surprised at you for not calling it out
Not arguing against solidarity picketing! Just saying it wasn't an anti-strike quote as you described it!
Its not Solidarity either though is it?
I am so happy that I am no longer part of that movement. The absolutism is exhausting. What does "standing in solidarity" even mean? The picket line isn't the strike, the not being at work is the strike. Standing there is a visual demo of "we are on strike, please support us". But the people who aren't on strike?
I absolutely support people joining a union - and think more people should do so. And the right to strike. All of that. But the absolutist "you must back this" or you are being disgusting? Bugger that.
I too am glad to be out of the Tory Lite no idea what Solidarity means mob who are in charge now.
If you cant stand with Drs who want |£19/hr and say £19 is unaffordable but you could stand on a Picket line with McDonalds workers demanding £15 saying the claim was justified you are a stinking Hypocrite IMO
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
Oh Nick seriously mate
Have you never stood in Solidarity FFS
They are not exactly blocking hospital entrances and calling patients scabs
SKS was on the McDonalds Picket Line when he wanted to be leader calling for them to get £15 an hr now he is not willing to stand with Drs asking for restoration of pay who are currently on as little as £14
Its disgusting I am surprised at you for not calling it out
Not arguing against solidarity picketing! Just saying it wasn't an anti-strike quote as you described it!
Its not Solidarity either though is it?
I am so happy that I am no longer part of that movement. The absolutism is exhausting. What does "standing in solidarity" even mean? The picket line isn't the strike, the not being at work is the strike. Standing there is a visual demo of "we are on strike, please support us". But the people who aren't on strike?
I absolutely support people joining a union - and think more people should do so. And the right to strike. All of that. But the absolutist "you must back this" or you are being disgusting? Bugger that.
Yes, as with most things the obsessives ruin everything.
It could be - probably is - sheer coincidence and/or nothing at all. But how delightful to speculate that the SNP is so fucked that they are going to disband and change their name
There was a storm in a teacup the other week at the Tories doing the same with their brand. With very similar comments from those at the other end of the political spectrum as you regarding toxic brands.
Brexit has led to both a devaluation and An undervaluation of British asset prices. I don’t think that’s controversial.
Kitchen Cabinet doesn’t like it because he’s two spoons short of a full drawer.
As opposed to the full cutlery set short like yourself?
If you actually listened to what the UK small cap sector in particular says the biggest issue is non-coverage. AIM is another issue. For large cap, it is because we are seen as old economy and don't have much Tech - which has far more to do with the short-sightedness of much of our VC industry.
Plus FTSE100 stocks in particular are heaving weighted to overseas earnings (eg BP). Devaluation should also help the markets because it makes UK equities cheaper to non-UK entities.
But, go on, talk about Brexit again like some demented parrot overdosed on speed. I'm sure you can get Donald Trump and Boris Johnson in there as well if you tried.
Dr. Foxy, Britannia went absolutely backwards when the Romans left. The de-urbanisation was not a matter of success and choice, as fear and consequence.
London was briefly replaced/surpassed by Londonwic[sp], a little along the river. This was in Anglo-Saxon times, if memory serves, but the Viking threat meant it was easier to return to London and repair the walls for safety.
Also, the absence of the Romans led to a massive collapse in both trade and coinage.
It very much depends on what you mean by backwards. No longer being oppressed and being able to take back control of their lands was a positive reason to go back to small scale farming. The lives of many improved when they lost their brutal overlords.
It was more that they exchanged one group of brutal overlords for another. The Roman upper classes exacted heavily from them. The warlords and pirates that replaced them pillaged from them and enslaved them.
It's an old gag, but with some truth, that those on the bottom rung might barely notice who their specific overlords are.
Mr. Brooke, Germany ending its nuclear power plants after the Japanese tsunami/earthquake was obviously nuts at the time.
Mr. F, blimey, I was only vaguely aware of Sporus, didn't realise he suffered at the hands of Otho and Vitellius as well.
For all its achievements, the Roman Empire was a place of appalling cruelty, and definitely not the kind of liberal paradise that Gibbon envisaged. Gibbon, however, was completely uninterested in women, the lower classes, slaves, and simply saw himself reflected in the elite.
I've always thought life in the Roman Empire would have been pretty shit unless you were part of the elite or landed gentry. But, that and the legions are all we ever hear about.
That was why when the Legions left England the people abandoned the towns and industry, and went back to subsistence farming. Once the state violence stopped, people could live as they wanted.
That said, 5th/6th century Britain sounds like the world of Mad Max, with bands of thugs roaming a depopulated hellhole.
I've read about that time and it sounds fucking horrible: mass starvation, no law, murder, desolation, terrible disease, mass migration, conflict, awful storms and weather affecting mass failures of crops. It was utterly utterly shit. The population was decimated and endured horror after horror.
The worst time in history- by far - to live in Britain was after the fall of the Roman Empire during those two centuries.
An abject lesson for those who want to pull down all institutions and governance all around us.
Does anywhere else in the world offer an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores ?
Numerous countries provide accommodation for those seeking asylum. I don’t think anywhere offers an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores, but then nor do we.
We deport lots of people who rock up. Some are literally on the next plane back. If the Government resource the system adequately, we’d be deporting more people more quickly.
And that's actually the issue - a lot of people are now staying here so long their end up remaining on humanitarian grounds because they've been here 4+ years.
We really should be focussing more money on the resources required to process cases quickly.
How far would the £140 million Priti Patel spent on the Rwandan PR stunt have gone in helping with this?
If the plan is to build enough houses to significantly reduce house prices in the Home Counties, then the policy is to transfer a massive amount of wealth from existing homeowners to housing developers. It's not surprising it arouses opposition.
It's completely bonkers that a non-productive asset is seen as a great investment by so many people, and we even celebrate the prices going up! I'd vote for almost anyone who could bring house prices crashing down and get people off of the "my house is my pension" mindset. It's an insane way to run an economy.
The problem is that the building cost of a property is roughly what it sells for, plus a few percent.
Crash house prices, and it won't be profitable to build. Not unless construction costs collapse alongside.
Sorry, this doesn’t make sense to me. The building cost of a property cannot be what it sells for plus a few percent. I deduce this because the same size and type of properties sell for many multiples more in some locations than others. It can’t cost much more to build a property in leafy Hampstead as it does in Gourock, Scotland, yet property prices are completely different.
Building cost includes cost of land, which obviously varies, as well as local cost of labour and associated costs of materials. It is obviously cheaper to build in some places than others.
Building companies do not make massive profits, therefore the cost of building is not that much less than the sales price.
This is the most pathetic failure. No getting round it
Hundreds of millions spent to deport ZERO people
There was always a decent chance that would happen.
Damn stupid to spend and promise so much without getting legal ducks lined up.
The truth which no one wants to speak is that, there is no way to control immigration once people are in the country.
We are not going to deport large numbers of people. Certainly nothing near compared with people arriving.
We should be honest, bite the bullet, and just give everyone currently in the country leave to remain.
Of course, that would be electoral suicide, so we get posturing and stunts which are only designed for the media.
But that would be national suicide of a different kind. There are 2 billion people who would like to live in the UK. Once word gets out we’ve simply bothered trying to stop people getting in, and we let you stay once you’re here, then they will come
The problem is HMG is simply too spineless to try the brutal methods that might actually work - and save lives and prevent strife further down the line
Indeed thats the crux of the matter.
Either we go fully fascist, (ie deportation regardless of circumstances, no asylum hearings etc etc) or we try to set up fortress UK stopping people getting in in the first place, or we accept we can't really control immigration and try to just limit it to an acceptable level.
I can't see any alternatives.
How long is the area of beach where the boat people actually arrive ?
Margate to Eastbourne ? Dungeness to Dover ?
Broadly the Rye/Camber sands area to Hythe/Folkestone. Further west the crossing's too long, then from Dover on you have cliffs until you get near Thanet when, again, the length of crossing becomes an issue.
Thanks. With questions like this, it’s always useful to get an answer from an aquatic mammal.
No worries. It’s what I’m here for.
Never ask a Sealion though. They’ll suggest bollocks like crossing the channel on sections of floating bridge lashed together. By Bavarians.
So the question is, have the SNP recently started doing this, or is it just boring coincidence. BOOOO!!!
Probably the rules on expenses, if most politicians leave out their parties. I don't think party affiliation is listed on House of Commons stationery either.
pg22 - the most dramatic period of social and economic collapse in British history/food would have been in short supply
But some had a greater sense of sovereignty. Until dropping dead from starvation and plague.
I almost can't believe we're having this conversation, but starvation was down to a series of poor summers, and plague was down to plague. Neither were consequences of the Romans leaving and more than covid and war in Ukraine were consequences of Brexit.
Correlation <> causation.
I think you can make a case that central organisation in food storage and distribution can make a society more resistant to famine etc. It depends on the government of course, as some governments have either been callous about inflicting famine, or even use it as a weapon.
In the Anglo-Saxon period the Church had a 10% tithe on crops, and priests were from the local village, so had a primitive welfare state. It was when the Church became centralised that the tithes were diverted to support wealthy abbots rather than poor peasants.
The Roman Empire basically practised "trickle up" economics. Lesser landowners extorted from the peasants, while seeking ways to avoid paying tax, like joining town councils. Greater landowners extorted from the lesser, while using their influence to avoid taxes. The imperial bureaucracy extorted from everybody. But, the bureaucrats didn't care where the taxes came from, so long as they got paid. So in practice, the tax burden fell upon the poorest.
So, the lot of a British peasant, in say 350, would not have been a good one. But what they got in place of organised extortion, under the Romans, was disorganised extortion, under British and Saxon warlords, and Irish slave raiders.
This is another lesson. Empires can be crap for their subject people's, but the alternatives can also be far worse.
Life in ancient times was tough. Blimey, you learn something new on here every day.
You jest, but weirdly people do seem to not realise it, such as those essentially condeming industrialisation as a concept.
Mark Corrigan in Peep Show got it right:
It's not all a conspiracy to keep you in little boxes, alright? It's only the miracle of consumer capitalism that means you're not lying in your own shit, dying at 43 with rotten teeth.
On topic unaffordable housing is the opposite of aspirational. Housing needs to be affordable, decent and available. Whether you own it and its investment value is secondary to that.
Does anywhere else in the world offer an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores ?
A good third of the population here (and they are the ones in key positions of power) want to roll out the red carpet for anyone who arrives here and claims the right to asylum because, again, that's how you show how Anti-Racist you are to your peer group. America has the same problem.
Europe, by and large, and Australia does not. And New Zealand is too far away to be a problem.
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
Oh Nick seriously mate
Have you never stood in Solidarity FFS
They are not exactly blocking hospital entrances and calling patients scabs
SKS was on the McDonalds Picket Line when he wanted to be leader calling for them to get £15 an hr now he is not willing to stand with Drs asking for restoration of pay who are currently on as little as £14
Its disgusting I am surprised at you for not calling it out
Not arguing against solidarity picketing! Just saying it wasn't an anti-strike quote as you described it!
Its not Solidarity either though is it?
I am so happy that I am no longer part of that movement. The absolutism is exhausting. What does "standing in solidarity" even mean? The picket line isn't the strike, the not being at work is the strike. Standing there is a visual demo of "we are on strike, please support us". But the people who aren't on strike?
I absolutely support people joining a union - and think more people should do so. And the right to strike. All of that. But the absolutist "you must back this" or you are being disgusting? Bugger that.
Yes, as with most things the obsessives ruin everything.
But if you don’t allow the obsessives to make little lists of “infractions”, what will they write on their clipboards? What will they do with their time?
They might be reduced to actually doing something.
Mr. Brooke, Germany ending its nuclear power plants after the Japanese tsunami/earthquake was obviously nuts at the time.
Mr. F, blimey, I was only vaguely aware of Sporus, didn't realise he suffered at the hands of Otho and Vitellius as well.
For all its achievements, the Roman Empire was a place of appalling cruelty, and definitely not the kind of liberal paradise that Gibbon envisaged. Gibbon, however, was completely uninterested in women, the lower classes, slaves, and simply saw himself reflected in the elite.
I've always thought life in the Roman Empire would have been pretty shit unless you were part of the elite or landed gentry. But, that and the legions are all we ever hear about.
That was why when the Legions left England the people abandoned the towns and industry, and went back to subsistence farming. Once the state violence stopped, people could live as they wanted.
That said, 5th/6th century Britain sounds like the world of Mad Max, with bands of thugs roaming a depopulated hellhole.
I've read about that time and it sounds fucking horrible: mass starvation, no law, murder, desolation, terrible disease, mass migration, conflict, awful storms and weather affecting mass failures of crops. It was utterly utterly shit. The population was decimated and endured horror after horror.
The worst time in history- by far - to live in Britain was after the fall of the Roman Empire during those two centuries.
An abject lesson for those who want to pull down all institutions and governance all around us.
Apart from the "mass starvation" bit, I thought you were talking about the early 2020s
Just waiting for @Gardenwalker to tell us that regardless of how diabolical 5th and 6th Century Britain was it still wasn't as bad as post Brexit Britain after 2016.
So the question is, have the SNP recently started doing this, or is it just boring coincidence. BOOOO!!!
Truss I can understand: to elements of the US Right, the Tories are a subversive, ultra-woke outfit led by an untrustworthy exotic. Those high-paying think tanks might balk at hiring a speaker who once led such an abomination. Hague? Perhaps he thinks that the Tory bits of his early life aren't really worth mentioning.
On topic, housing is a bi-partisan cockup in this country - Labour did nothing to build enough houses when they were in power, despite opening the floodgates to anyone in Eastern Europe, and the Conservatives have done nothing for the past twelve years either. And, just as important but never mentioned, neither party has any idea how to build the larger, higher quality homes that are needed, but which the large builder oligopoly completely fails to provide.
Of course, the LibDems, with their focus on ponit-scoring in by-elections, are even worse.
People in their 20s and 30s should of course be demanding change, but few grasp the concepts involved, blaming the wrong people (greedy landlords, etc.)
So no change here I think.
Labour simply replaces 'your lot with our lot'.
And, they will throw different red meat to their base. Unfortunately, some of that red meat is my family so I will do whatever I can to inhibit them.
Mr. Brooke, Germany ending its nuclear power plants after the Japanese tsunami/earthquake was obviously nuts at the time.
Mr. F, blimey, I was only vaguely aware of Sporus, didn't realise he suffered at the hands of Otho and Vitellius as well.
For all its achievements, the Roman Empire was a place of appalling cruelty, and definitely not the kind of liberal paradise that Gibbon envisaged. Gibbon, however, was completely uninterested in women, the lower classes, slaves, and simply saw himself reflected in the elite.
I've always thought life in the Roman Empire would have been pretty shit unless you were part of the elite or landed gentry. But, that and the legions are all we ever hear about.
That was why when the Legions left England the people abandoned the towns and industry, and went back to subsistence farming. Once the state violence stopped, people could live as they wanted.
That said, 5th/6th century Britain sounds like the world of Mad Max, with bands of thugs roaming a depopulated hellhole.
I've read about that time and it sounds fucking horrible: mass starvation, no law, murder, desolation, terrible disease, mass migration, conflict, awful storms and weather affecting mass failures of crops. It was utterly utterly shit. The population was decimated and endured horror after horror.
The worst time in history- by far - to live in Britain was after the fall of the Roman Empire during those two centuries.
An abject lesson for those who want to pull down all institutions and governance all around us.
Possibly. The thing about the Dark Ages is that the sources we have are very sketchy. It was certainly an awful time for the history-writing people. Evidence of how life was for the masses of peasants before and after the fall of the Roman Empire is less clear cut.
We have something of an idealised version of the Roman Empire. But for most people, life was shit. Many sources suggest that for the masses, life was certainly no worse after the fall of Rome and in many cases better. (Apart from the plague. That sucked.)
The point was made earlier about the organised extortion of Rome vs the disorganised extortion of Irish, Saxon and Viking raiders. But it's worth remembering that at least towards the end of the empire a lot of the disorganised extortion was going on AS WELL AS the organised extortion.
Does anywhere else in the world offer an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores ?
A good third of the population here (and they are the ones in key positions of power) want to roll out the red carpet for anyone who arrives here and claims the right to asylum because, again, that's how you show how Anti-Racist you are to your peer group. America has the same problem.
Europe, by and large, and Australia does not. And New Zealand is too far away to be a problem.
In that case why does the UK take in proportionally fewer asylum seekers, refugees and migrants than much of Europe?
On topic, housing is a bi-partisan cockup in this country - Labour did nothing to build enough houses when they were in power, despite opening the floodgates to anyone in Eastern Europe, and the Conservatives have done nothing for the past twelve years either. And, just as important but never mentioned, neither party has any idea how to build the larger, higher quality homes that are needed, but which the large builder oligopoly completely fails to provide.
Of course, the LibDems, with their focus on ponit-scoring in by-elections, are even worse.
People in their 20s and 30s should of course be demanding change, but few grasp the concepts involved, blaming the wrong people (greedy landlords, etc.)
So no change here I think.
Labour simply replaces 'your lot with our lot'.
And, they will throw different red meat to their base. Unfortunately, some of that red meat is my family so I will do whatever I can to inhibit them.
SKS has no red meat he has abandoned his base and is fishing in your waters.
I mean seriously what do you think he is going to do to your family?
Mr. Brooke, Germany ending its nuclear power plants after the Japanese tsunami/earthquake was obviously nuts at the time.
Mr. F, blimey, I was only vaguely aware of Sporus, didn't realise he suffered at the hands of Otho and Vitellius as well.
For all its achievements, the Roman Empire was a place of appalling cruelty, and definitely not the kind of liberal paradise that Gibbon envisaged. Gibbon, however, was completely uninterested in women, the lower classes, slaves, and simply saw himself reflected in the elite.
I've always thought life in the Roman Empire would have been pretty shit unless you were part of the elite or landed gentry. But, that and the legions are all we ever hear about.
That was why when the Legions left England the people abandoned the towns and industry, and went back to subsistence farming. Once the state violence stopped, people could live as they wanted.
That said, 5th/6th century Britain sounds like the world of Mad Max, with bands of thugs roaming a depopulated hellhole.
I've read about that time and it sounds fucking horrible: mass starvation, no law, murder, desolation, terrible disease, mass migration, conflict, awful storms and weather affecting mass failures of crops. It was utterly utterly shit. The population was decimated and endured horror after horror.
The worst time in history- by far - to live in Britain was after the fall of the Roman Empire during those two centuries.
An abject lesson for those who want to pull down all institutions and governance all around us.
Possibly. The thing about the Dark Ages is that the sources we have are very sketchy. It was certainly an awful time for the history-writing people. Evidence of how life was for the masses of peasants before and after the fall of the Roman Empire is less clear cut.
We have something of an idealised version of the Roman Empire. But for most people, life was shit. Many sources suggest that for the masses, life was certainly no worse after the fall of Rome and in many cases better. (Apart from the plague. That sucked.)
The point was made earlier about the organised extortion of Rome vs the disorganised extortion of Irish, Saxon and Viking raiders. But it's worth remembering that at least towards the end of the empire a lot of the disorganised extortion was going on AS WELL AS the organised extortion.
I've read about it. Got a book - forget the name will look - and it's the end of days.
Modern archaeology, carbon dating and DNA analysis has all helped to shed light on it.
Does anywhere else in the world offer an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores ?
A good third of the population here (and they are the ones in key positions of power) want to roll out the red carpet for anyone who arrives here and claims the right to asylum because, again, that's how you show how Anti-Racist you are to your peer group. America has the same problem.
Europe, by and large, and Australia does not. And New Zealand is too far away to be a problem.
In that case why does the UK take in proportionally fewer asylum seekers, refugees and migrants than much of Europe?
You've literally got left-wing Britons upthread arguing we should take in far more.
That's exactly what I expect to happen as soon as Labour take office.
If the plan is to build enough houses to significantly reduce house prices in the Home Counties, then the policy is to transfer a massive amount of wealth from existing homeowners to housing developers. It's not surprising it arouses opposition.
It's completely bonkers that a non-productive asset is seen as a great investment by so many people, and we even celebrate the prices going up! I'd vote for almost anyone who could bring house prices crashing down and get people off of the "my house is my pension" mindset. It's an insane way to run an economy.
The problem is that the building cost of a property is roughly what it sells for, plus a few percent.
Crash house prices, and it won't be profitable to build. Not unless construction costs collapse alongside.
Sorry, this doesn’t make sense to me. The building cost of a property cannot be what it sells for plus a few percent. I deduce this because the same size and type of properties sell for many multiples more in some locations than others. It can’t cost much more to build a property in leafy Hampstead as it does in Gourock, Scotland, yet property prices are completely different.
Building cost includes cost of land, which obviously varies, as well as local cost of labour and associated costs of materials. It is obviously cheaper to build in some places than others.
Building companies do not make massive profits, therefore the cost of building is not that much less than the sales price.
I didn’t realise you were including the cost of land in building costs. I presume glw’s wish is really to bring land prices crashing down, which obviates your concern about profitability.
Does anywhere else in the world offer an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores ?
A good third of the population here (and they are the ones in key positions of power) want to roll out the red carpet for anyone who arrives here and claims the right to asylum because, again, that's how you show how Anti-Racist you are to your peer group. America has the same problem.
Europe, by and large, and Australia does not. And New Zealand is too far away to be a problem.
In that case why does the UK take in proportionally fewer asylum seekers, refugees and migrants than much of Europe?
You've literally got left-wing Britons upthread arguing we should take in far more.
That's exactly what I expect to happen as soon as Labour take office.
Is the never a lie shall pass my lips LOTO saying the exact opposite?
If the plan is to build enough houses to significantly reduce house prices in the Home Counties, then the policy is to transfer a massive amount of wealth from existing homeowners to housing developers. It's not surprising it arouses opposition.
It's completely bonkers that a non-productive asset is seen as a great investment by so many people, and we even celebrate the prices going up! I'd vote for almost anyone who could bring house prices crashing down and get people off of the "my house is my pension" mindset. It's an insane way to run an economy.
The problem is that the building cost of a property is roughly what it sells for, plus a few percent.
Crash house prices, and it won't be profitable to build. Not unless construction costs collapse alongside.
Why should new builds be affordable?
We should focus instead on making them nice, because they will be around a lot longer than the people who live in them.
When there is enough overall supply, the affordable end of the market will take care of itself.
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
Oh Nick seriously mate
Have you never stood in Solidarity FFS
They are not exactly blocking hospital entrances and calling patients scabs
SKS was on the McDonalds Picket Line when he wanted to be leader calling for them to get £15 an hr now he is not willing to stand with Drs asking for restoration of pay who are currently on as little as £14
Its disgusting I am surprised at you for not calling it out
Not arguing against solidarity picketing! Just saying it wasn't an anti-strike quote as you described it!
Its not Solidarity either though is it?
I am so happy that I am no longer part of that movement. The absolutism is exhausting. What does "standing in solidarity" even mean? The picket line isn't the strike, the not being at work is the strike. Standing there is a visual demo of "we are on strike, please support us". But the people who aren't on strike?
I absolutely support people joining a union - and think more people should do so. And the right to strike. All of that. But the absolutist "you must back this" or you are being disgusting? Bugger that.
I too am glad to be out of the Tory Lite no idea what Solidarity means mob who are in charge now.
If you cant stand with Drs who want |£19/hr and say £19 is unaffordable but you could stand on a Picket line with McDonalds workers demanding £15 saying the claim was justified you are a stinking Hypocrite IMO
Does anywhere else in the world offer an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores ?
A good third of the population here (and they are the ones in key positions of power) want to roll out the red carpet for anyone who arrives here and claims the right to asylum because, again, that's how you show how Anti-Racist you are to your peer group. America has the same problem.
Europe, by and large, and Australia does not. And New Zealand is too far away to be a problem.
In that case why does the UK take in proportionally fewer asylum seekers, refugees and migrants than much of Europe?
You've literally got left-wing Britons upthread arguing we should take in far more.
That's exactly what I expect to happen as soon as Labour take office.
Is the never a lie shall pass my lips LOTO saying the exact opposite?
On topic, housing is a bi-partisan cockup in this country - Labour did nothing to build enough houses when they were in power, despite opening the floodgates to anyone in Eastern Europe, and the Conservatives have done nothing for the past twelve years either. And, just as important but never mentioned, neither party has any idea how to build the larger, higher quality homes that are needed, but which the large builder oligopoly completely fails to provide.
Of course, the LibDems, with their focus on ponit-scoring in by-elections, are even worse.
People in their 20s and 30s should of course be demanding change, but few grasp the concepts involved, blaming the wrong people (greedy landlords, etc.)
So no change here I think.
Labour simply replaces 'your lot with our lot'.
And, they will throw different red meat to their base. Unfortunately, some of that red meat is my family so I will do whatever I can to inhibit them.
SKS has no red meat he has abandoned his base and is fishing in your waters.
I mean seriously what do you think he is going to do to your family?
Force them out of the schools they are settled in and crippling me with further income and property taxes.
Mr. Brooke, Germany ending its nuclear power plants after the Japanese tsunami/earthquake was obviously nuts at the time.
Mr. F, blimey, I was only vaguely aware of Sporus, didn't realise he suffered at the hands of Otho and Vitellius as well.
For all its achievements, the Roman Empire was a place of appalling cruelty, and definitely not the kind of liberal paradise that Gibbon envisaged. Gibbon, however, was completely uninterested in women, the lower classes, slaves, and simply saw himself reflected in the elite.
I've always thought life in the Roman Empire would have been pretty shit unless you were part of the elite or landed gentry. But, that and the legions are all we ever hear about.
That was why when the Legions left England the people abandoned the towns and industry, and went back to subsistence farming. Once the state violence stopped, people could live as they wanted.
That said, 5th/6th century Britain sounds like the world of Mad Max, with bands of thugs roaming a depopulated hellhole.
I've read about that time and it sounds fucking horrible: mass starvation, no law, murder, desolation, terrible disease, mass migration, conflict, awful storms and weather affecting mass failures of crops. It was utterly utterly shit. The population was decimated and endured horror after horror.
The worst time in history- by far - to live in Britain was after the fall of the Roman Empire during those two centuries.
An abject lesson for those who want to pull down all institutions and governance all around us.
Possibly. The thing about the Dark Ages is that the sources we have are very sketchy. It was certainly an awful time for the history-writing people. Evidence of how life was for the masses of peasants before and after the fall of the Roman Empire is less clear cut.
We have something of an idealised version of the Roman Empire. But for most people, life was shit. Many sources suggest that for the masses, life was certainly no worse after the fall of Rome and in many cases better. (Apart from the plague. That sucked.)
The point was made earlier about the organised extortion of Rome vs the disorganised extortion of Irish, Saxon and Viking raiders. But it's worth remembering that at least towards the end of the empire a lot of the disorganised extortion was going on AS WELL AS the organised extortion.
If the comfortable writing people were having a bad time it's not too much a stretch to think the strugglers had a worse than usual time. But it was probably overdone.
No, to be fair she's having a go at people uninvolved turning up at picket lines. It's a debate that goes back to the old flying picket days. She's not attacking strikes per se.
Oh Nick seriously mate
Have you never stood in Solidarity FFS
They are not exactly blocking hospital entrances and calling patients scabs
SKS was on the McDonalds Picket Line when he wanted to be leader calling for them to get £15 an hr now he is not willing to stand with Drs asking for restoration of pay who are currently on as little as £14
Its disgusting I am surprised at you for not calling it out
Not arguing against solidarity picketing! Just saying it wasn't an anti-strike quote as you described it!
Its not Solidarity either though is it?
I am so happy that I am no longer part of that movement. The absolutism is exhausting. What does "standing in solidarity" even mean? The picket line isn't the strike, the not being at work is the strike. Standing there is a visual demo of "we are on strike, please support us". But the people who aren't on strike?
I absolutely support people joining a union - and think more people should do so. And the right to strike. All of that. But the absolutist "you must back this" or you are being disgusting? Bugger that.
I too am glad to be out of the Tory Lite no idea what Solidarity means mob who are in charge now.
If you cant stand with Drs who want |£19/hr and say £19 is unaffordable but you could stand on a Picket line with McDonalds workers demanding £15 saying the claim was justified you are a stinking Hypocrite IMO
Mr. Brooke, Germany ending its nuclear power plants after the Japanese tsunami/earthquake was obviously nuts at the time.
Mr. F, blimey, I was only vaguely aware of Sporus, didn't realise he suffered at the hands of Otho and Vitellius as well.
For all its achievements, the Roman Empire was a place of appalling cruelty, and definitely not the kind of liberal paradise that Gibbon envisaged. Gibbon, however, was completely uninterested in women, the lower classes, slaves, and simply saw himself reflected in the elite.
I've always thought life in the Roman Empire would have been pretty shit unless you were part of the elite or landed gentry. But, that and the legions are all we ever hear about.
That was why when the Legions left England the people abandoned the towns and industry, and went back to subsistence farming. Once the state violence stopped, people could live as they wanted.
That said, 5th/6th century Britain sounds like the world of Mad Max, with bands of thugs roaming a depopulated hellhole.
I've read about that time and it sounds fucking horrible: mass starvation, no law, murder, desolation, terrible disease, mass migration, conflict, awful storms and weather affecting mass failures of crops. It was utterly utterly shit. The population was decimated and endured horror after horror.
The worst time in history- by far - to live in Britain was after the fall of the Roman Empire during those two centuries.
An abject lesson for those who want to pull down all institutions and governance all around us.
Possibly. The thing about the Dark Ages is that the sources we have are very sketchy. It was certainly an awful time for the history-writing people. Evidence of how life was for the masses of peasants before and after the fall of the Roman Empire is less clear cut.
We have something of an idealised version of the Roman Empire. But for most people, life was shit. Many sources suggest that for the masses, life was certainly no worse after the fall of Rome and in many cases better. (Apart from the plague. That sucked.)
The point was made earlier about the organised extortion of Rome vs the disorganised extortion of Irish, Saxon and Viking raiders. But it's worth remembering that at least towards the end of the empire a lot of the disorganised extortion was going on AS WELL AS the organised extortion.
I've read about it. Got a book - forget the name will look - and it's the end of days.
Modern archaeology, carbon dating and DNA analysis has all helped to shed light on it.
So have I. Several. Max Adams - the First Kingdom - being the most recent. Interested in your book - tag me when you find it.
I'd have thought Dark Ages history quite a niche interest. But I find it interesting that we have so many on here with an interest in that period.
It could be - probably is - sheer coincidence and/or nothing at all. But how delightful to speculate that the SNP is so fucked that they are going to disband and change their name
There are SNP proposals for a logo change to a more female- friendly image being discussed - maybe preparing for the big publicity(!) of a re-brand launch?
Does anywhere else in the world offer an instant hotel room for anyone who rocks up on their shores ?
A good third of the population here (and they are the ones in key positions of power) want to roll out the red carpet for anyone who arrives here and claims the right to asylum because, again, that's how you show how Anti-Racist you are to your peer group. America has the same problem.
Europe, by and large, and Australia does not. And New Zealand is too far away to be a problem.
In that case why does the UK take in proportionally fewer asylum seekers, refugees and migrants than much of Europe?
Because it doesn't
in the last 20-30 years the UK has taken in many more migrants than most European countries. This is the main reason our population has expanded much faster than our peers
Italy population 1993: 56.83m
Italy population 2023:60.3m
Germany population 1993: 81.16m
Germany population 2023: 84.5m
UK population 1993: 57.7m
UK population 2023: 68.9m
If you compare us with central and eastern Europe the comparison is much more stark. So you're talking total shite
Comments
Ownership will be more important, not less, in a world where employment isn't a thing.
Manufacturing (for example) isn't going to disappear, even of the jobs do. If the UK has abandoned such things, we'll be fncked.
Take the people trafficker middlemen out of the equation.
Have you never stood in Solidarity FFS
They are not exactly blocking hospital entrances and calling patients scabs
SKS was on the McDonalds Picket Line when he wanted to be leader calling for them to get £15 an hr now he is not willing to stand with Drs asking for restoration of pay who are currently on as little as £14
Its disgusting I am surprised at you for not calling it out
Or where the money is coming from, given that according to Starmer the Tories are the party of High Tax and we have the highest tax burden ever.
I'd say he'll bait and switch to then compare our tax burden with our European peers, where it is in the approx lowest quarter, and high tax will miraculously no longer be a party phenomenon, but will be down to global trends.
"No names eh? Right, you are Sebastian Codpiece. You, the guy steering, are rated Able Seaman. So you are now Able Seaman Staines."
1. The UK indices are heavily old economy weighted (which is why the UK actually did well at the start of the year).
2. UK fund managers are generally unimpressive and tend to be all about cash preservation not growth. Dividends is the obsession of many of them.
3. The UK gold-platted Mifid 2 - EU legislation by the way - which led to a decline in smaller cap stocks in particular being covered because it was unprofitable unless you were the broker / did investment banking business with the firm. Many small companies have only the house broker covering them, or a firm like Edison (paid research) both of which are not seen as independent.
It is truly remarkable how Brexit gets shoehorned into everything.
Looks like advantage Cooper to me who is keeping her distance and was clearly unhappy with the disgusting attack ads
83% of people support the strikes and there is no rentamob element its about some people wishing to show their Solidarity
If there are only 60 million overall there must be a large number of adults with none, or perhaps married couples with just one shared.
I absolutely support people joining a union - and think more people should do so. And the right to strike. All of that. But the absolutist "you must back this" or you are being disgusting? Bugger that.
People are happy to support any cause they like, but when they understand what it entails, or would cost them, then this support starts to fall away.
The same goes for renationalising energy or rail.
This is the argument - our self-harm Brexit deal has devalued our economy and made investing here a niche activity. Which then devalues companies and leaves them prone to being picked up by non-UK companies.
Don't worry though - we know that UK jobs are perfectly safe when we sell everything off abroad. Those off-shore boards where the UK is a small part of their overall business always do right by us.
As for British fund managers, the sooner Leon's 4th gen AI takes charge of my paltry pension pot, the better.
We deport lots of people who rock up. Some are literally on the next plane back. If the Government resource the system adequately, we’d be deporting more people more quickly.
Kate Forbes' Twitter bio does not mention the SNP, either
https://twitter.com/_KateForbes
We really should be focussing more money on the resources required to process cases quickly.
But given @nigelb is so stupid he can't even read a post he's replied to, there is definitely no point trying to explain such a point to him.
https://twitter.com/ShonaRobison
It could be - probably is - sheer coincidence and/or nothing at all. But how delightful to speculate that the SNP is so fucked that they are going to disband and change their name
And another
https://twitter.com/AConstance23
And another
https://twitter.com/MathesonMichael
Kitchen Cabinet doesn’t like it because he’s two spoons short of a full drawer.
The support for the strikes, according to the BMA polls of the public, seem to be more like just over half. BMA numbers, start of the month:
https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/junior-doctors-feel-growing-sense-of-momentum-as-second-strike-begins
The 50s excerpt quoted in that tweet - used to (falsely imo) suggest "anti-strike" is a carefully selected snip from a 5 minute interview about the Sam Tarry case wrt the Rail Strike in August 2022, and his various off-piste actions as a shadow minister. The charge of "not understanding solidarity" does not seem to fit, to me.
Here is the full piece:
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1554370505184276480
Lefty rentamob turning up is just what happens.
Looks as if a memo has gone around reminding people to be careful.
NB. There is a persistent IT problem with the graph on the main page being out of date. You actually have to click on the graph itself to get the latest version.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election#/media/File:Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election_after_2019_(LOESS).svg
If you cant stand with Drs who want |£19/hr and say £19 is unaffordable but you could stand on a Picket line with McDonalds workers demanding £15 saying the claim was justified you are a stinking Hypocrite IMO
https://www.reportdigital.co.uk/reportage-photo-keir-starmer-mcdonalds-workers-on-strike-over-low-pay---12-nov-2019-photojournalism-image00126539.html
https://twitter.com/WilliamJHague
Nor does Truss
https://twitter.com/trussliz
So the question is, have the SNP recently started doing this, or is it just boring coincidence. BOOOO!!!
Jeez. Allow a guy a little fun on a rainy Friday
If you actually listened to what the UK small cap sector in particular says the biggest issue is non-coverage. AIM is another issue. For large cap, it is because we are seen as old economy and don't have much Tech - which has far more to do with the short-sightedness of much of our VC industry.
Plus FTSE100 stocks in particular are heaving weighted to overseas earnings
(eg BP). Devaluation should also help the markets because it makes UK
equities cheaper to non-UK entities.
But, go on, talk about Brexit again like some demented parrot overdosed on speed. I'm sure you can get Donald Trump and Boris Johnson in there as well if you tried.
The worst time in history- by far - to live in Britain was after the fall of the Roman Empire during those two centuries.
An abject lesson for those who want to pull down all institutions and governance all around us.
Building companies do not make massive profits, therefore the cost of building is not that much less than the sales price.
https://twitter.com/RishiSunak
So I am afraid we must rein in our amusing speculations that the SNP are about to be become the National Socialist Scottish Workers Party
Real SNP
Really Real SNP
Keeping’ It Real SNP
It's not all a conspiracy to keep you in little boxes, alright? It's only the miracle of consumer capitalism that means you're not lying in your own shit, dying at 43 with rotten teeth.
Europe, by and large, and Australia does not. And New Zealand is too far away to be a problem.
They might be reduced to actually doing something.
Have you no pity?
With apologies to A. Lincoln
And, they will throw different red meat to their base. Unfortunately, some of that red meat is my family so I will do whatever I can to inhibit them.
The thing about the Dark Ages is that the sources we have are very sketchy.
It was certainly an awful time for the history-writing people.
Evidence of how life was for the masses of peasants before and after the fall of the Roman Empire is less clear cut.
We have something of an idealised version of the Roman Empire. But for most people, life was shit. Many sources suggest that for the masses, life was certainly no worse after the fall of Rome and in many cases better. (Apart from the plague. That sucked.)
The point was made earlier about the organised extortion of Rome vs the disorganised extortion of Irish, Saxon and Viking raiders. But it's worth remembering that at least towards the end of the empire a lot of the disorganised extortion was going on AS WELL AS the organised extortion.
I mean seriously what do you think he is going to do to your family?
Modern archaeology, carbon dating and DNA analysis has all helped to shed light on it.
That's exactly what I expect to happen as soon as Labour take office.
If so you are probably right.
We should focus instead on making them nice, because they will be around a lot longer than the people who live in them.
When there is enough overall supply, the affordable end of the market will take care of itself.
Lovely day up here. I'm about to walk to the beach.
At last some actual levelling up!
I'd have thought Dark Ages history quite a niche interest. But I find it interesting that we have so many on here with an interest in that period.
in the last 20-30 years the UK has taken in many more migrants than most European countries. This is the main reason our population has expanded much faster than our peers
Italy population 1993: 56.83m
Italy population 2023:60.3m
Germany population 1993: 81.16m
Germany population 2023: 84.5m
UK population 1993: 57.7m
UK population 2023: 68.9m
If you compare us with central and eastern Europe the comparison is much more stark. So you're talking total shite