Rishi Sunak’s use of helicopters is an issue that really shouldn’t matter in normal circumstances however Sunak’s handling over the issue is proving to be a problem. Watch the video above and listen to a recent interaction between Sunak and a journalist over the use of helicopters.
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It reinforces every stereotype about him being very rich and out of touch.
I've seen the man do it. On the Weymss Bay to Rothesay ferry they did a quick bit of video about their trip then he sat chatting to voters like me.
So he can do man of the people. He isn't the aloof disconnected idiot some portray him as.
Get! To Da! Choppa!
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/570dedc6-0872-4692-8a10-d133e70ba64d
The problem is Sunak.
He sounds petulant, arrogant and out of touch as he is petulant, arrogant and out of touch.
'You are absolutely the right person on giving out advice on how to stop looking like an arrogant out of touch elitist.'
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/19/community-pantries-local-cooperatives-alternatives-to-food-banks-uk
It's actually an interesting idea - bit like the communal workshops for bike fixing/learning maintenance.
Comfortably the second largest foreign tourist group in Dublin (after Americans, whom it’s impossible to miss of course), and elsewhere the largest national group. French voices everywhere, Guides Routard tucked under arms. Fascinating.
Helicopters also are a more dangerous way to travel than cars or trains or planes, in terms of accidents per journey so on that side of things using more non helicopter transportation would also be safer for him
Dublin horse show is on, perhaps they are des cavaliers.
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Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou heaps praise on the approach of the England cricket team and says it mirrors the attacking philosophy he will have at Spurs ⚽
https://twitter.com/SkyCricket/status/1690683164392341505
Which foot would the trainer go on?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/13/extinction-rebellion-founder-ulez-tyres-slashed/
“The founder of Extinction Rebellion has hit out at Sadiq Khan’s ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) as “intrusive” and “regressive” for the lowest-paid Londoners.
“Roger Hallam made the comments in a thread on social media site X, in which he also attacked “urban middle-class neo-liberal Left” thinkers behind the Mayor’s road charge.
“He was responding to a Guardian column by Prof Devi Sridhar that argued in favour of Ulez and low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs). Hallam criticised supporters of the schemes for a “total lack of sensitivity and self-awareness”, claiming it showed a “myopic privilege”.”
Have you spoken to him? is not a useful question though unless he's going to sit down with each individual voter.
He is crap, and almost comically jejeune.
Which means he'll now get even more of it.
Sunak can't back down from his newly formulated political position of environmental vandalism just yet. It'll need another 2-3 months before the U-turn.
I absolutely do pick it up off the shelf separately from other items (I might pick up butter or cream on same aisle, but only one item at a time normally) and see the price when I do.
People who have to budget tend to check prices as they go along.
Bread can vary from 40p to over £2.
A tin of beans or a pack of teabags varies depending on type and brand and isn't bought by as many.
Housing costs are much larger for those who have them but many don't and also vary considerably for those who do.
Similarly for transport costs.
A 2 pint bottle costs most of the price of a 4 pint bottle. I wouldn't dream of paying for a 1 pint bottle, total waste of money that.
And he'll react in a petulant manner to that as that's how he is. He lacks a charming self deprecating manner that can disarm such attacks.
If it's not this issue, it'll be something else. The issue is him.
A pound not spent every week is the equivalent to the interest that would be received from having another £2k in the bank.
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And the only variation in 'quality' being organic.
Compare against the multitude of varieties of bread, beans, cheese, cereal or tea.
*Yes, I know.
IIRC no one tried that one again, on him.
+11 minutes first half extra time !!!
And that is up (at Treasury) north so we are just talking the prices in a small market town...
In any case the risk question would be better answered by looking at how much more the risk is compared to other things you regularly do and whether it exceeds your personal risk tolerance.
A flat price and a hard edged zone for solution is a poor taxation method. It doesn't encourage all the behaviours we want and targets the wrong groups.
Why is it that an EV Hummer is nearly free of taxation?
Though there's also the Cravendale-style filtered milk which typically comes in a 2L bottle shaped like a 4 pint bottle to mask how expensive it is.
And that's before we get into UHT or Almond/Soy etc "milks"
Ahem. that assumes no waiting time. The shortest train time (direct from Waterloo to Soton Cent) is 1hr 25, but you will not arrive immediately the train departs. Assume 15-30 mins waiting time for train to be platformed and for you to get on. Then at Soton Cent you'd have to get a taxi to wherever you are going.
So door-to-door I'd assume at least 2hrs, assume 2.5 on the safe side.
Incidentally Waterloo has a bookstore (Foyles) altho it is being refurbished. There are not many places in Waterloo for a nice sit down and a read, as everything is overpriced and not set up for the single reader. It does have a (grrr) coffee shop full of overpriced drinks I don't really understand, but it did (and I think it's reopened) have a nice sushi place which has nice sushi and seats upstairs where it isn't too loud.
First half lasted 56 minutes
But that's because I do the shopping in this house. My wife is much less good at knowing what things should cost. But much better at sorting out technical issues. There will be a certain amount of specialisation in families; I wouldn't expect everyone to be good at everything.
Talking of which: it's Sunday afternoon, and I need to go to Tesco before God's strangely arbitrary limitations on opening hours for large shops kick in.
With you until the final question though. The issue is that a flat priced charge taxes the wrong thing.
Why is it that a diesel car that drives 7 miles each way to work and back pays the same or similar charges to a personal hire vehicle, taxi, van, delivery car or bus etc that is driving hundreds of miles each day?
If you want to cut emissions then targeting personal cars is about the worst possible way to do it. Targeting professional vehicles that are driving around all day, every day, is far more bang for your buck.
I feel like there's a pretty wide range of wealth levels that are high enough not to specifically track bread and milk prices while still not being seriously wealthy anyway -- for that kind of staple which doesn't make up a large proportion of overall spend, my guess is that once you're above the level where you have to budget individual items you pick your quality level (cheapest possible, supermarket own brand, in store bakery, fancy, etc) and then stick with it most of the time. I look at prices when I'm stood in front of the shelf deciding on X vs Y sometimes but I forget the exact values once I've chosen...
No parking - either free parking for EV, or free parking to charge.
No road tax....
Former Prime Minister James Callaghan on the general election of 1979, quoted in Kenneth Morgan, Callaghan: A Life (1997), p. 697, see https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Callaghan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shops_Bill_1986
Incidentally expensive coffee isn't actually that ridiculously expensive. Tea is the great rip off when eating or drinking out, as far as raw cost as a proportion of your cost is concerned.
Coffee made from beans is simply far more expensive than instant coffee. There's a variety of reasons why, but it's a much better product too. Even just for black coffee, and even at home, it is far more expensive.
A latte etc is a lot of milk, on top of the beans, and as we've been discussing milk isn't free either.
A tea on the other hand is about 7p to make.
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They're making real coffee, from beans, why would they offer you instant or filter instead? Like going into Greggs and asking for a Fish and Chips, it's a different product that's not what they're selling.
All the big chains went through a spate of people demanding simple coffees back in the 90s.
Entirely agreed about tea -- I'd feel better about it if you were at least getting loose leaf tea, but it's almost always just a teabag in a pot...
I recall finding an original “caff” in the true old style. They had a coffee boiler that sat bubbling all day. Probably about 10 gallons in it. When someone order a coffee, they would pour one from the tap. Then the lady running the place would tip more water and instant coffee in at the top. Pure battery acid, that was.
Second, it has been routine for American presidents to fly in helicopters, for practical reasons, since 1957: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_One
(Among other things: A presidential motorcade can screw up traffic in an area for hours.)
So, PM Sunak should spend some time listening to ordinary voters -- and take helicopter rides, when appropriate.
(But I can understand TSE's thinking: I'd like to have a helicopter, too, and am envious of those who do have them.)
If they don’t have filter coffee, they will simply do an Americano when asked for a black coffee. And add milk for a white coffee.
I'm not asking for them to do anything out of the ordinary. Grind the beans and make the coffee. No need to tit about with milk or steam. The analogy would be like going into Greggs hoping for a sandwich, but finding there were no options for themnot to toast your sandwich.
To get the most from a good espresso requires water pressure. That's something most filters lack, so yes they are different things.
Absolutely no idea for milk, even though I buy a lot of it. Milkman charges a bit more I think.
There's all sorts of ways to make coffee from espresso so lots of choices (including Americano if you just want a tall, black coffee, and a white Americano if you want that with a splash of milk).
But some people long for the simpler days of just spam being the option.
Most restaurants have moved away from spam as their meat now. And have moved on from instant/filter coffee typically too. Thank goodness!
Given a choice between the funkier bits of El Salvador and the Falls Road.... I mean, you'll get shot/robbed/beaten in both places, but there's more chance of a good Mojito in El Salvador. Rather than some 2-1 Happy Hour special in a basement bar in a "social club" off the Falls.
On a scale of 1 to 10, instant is the 1, espresso is the 10, and filter is about a 3.5
Filter is far more real coffee than instant is, but it lacks the pressure to make a good coffee. Or leave a cup with it's crema normally.