In just a month Sunak sees a massive drop in his ratings – politicalbetting.com

AlsoLei said:

darkage said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

I see that amongst the reforms Sunak has dropped, less publicised, has been the requirement for landlords to ensure their properties are C rated for energy efficiency at least.

This is absurd.

If you want to be a landlord your property should be of a decent standard and habitable. Expecting tenants to pay through the nose for energy because landlords can't be bothered to make homes habitable is utterly insane.

Shame on Sunak.

The 'EPC rating' has nothing to do with the quality of accommodation. It is a rating system for energy efficiency. The incoming requirement to achieve a set 'level' to let out properties out has been a major contributory factor in private landlords exiting the market. This has, in combination with other things, pushed up rents by hundreds of pounds a month across the entirety of UK because of a shortage of supply. The energy savings from the measures come at great cost (ie double glazing) and hassle, and probably save a few quid a month to tenants. Instead they are replacing it with what seems like a better system, incentivising the upgrades through grants.

The savings are more than a few quid. My current place has an EPC score of 87 (a high 'B'), and my gas + electric bill is about £65/month. The unrefurbished but otherwise-identical flat next door has a score of 67 (so a 'D' rating), and has a projected primary energy use that's just over 2.1x mine. The only comparable E-rated place on my street uses 4.6x more energy per sq metre. That's a lot.

The regulations as they currently stand are about setting a reasonable floor, not enforcing best practice. They're intended to ratchet up at a steady pace (one grade every 8 years, is it?) that roughly fits with normal landlord refurbishment schedules.

When the grade E floor came in, it had a cost cap of £3,500 - if the necessary improvements cost more than that, then an exemption would be granted. And there were local authority grants and government-supported finance options available to fund it. Presumably something similar would have applied to the future steps of the ratchet.

I realise that EPCs are fairly crude with a number of potential edge cases like yours. But a more accurate system would likely cost much more to run, with much more intrusive inspections needed.

If the government is now proposing to incentivise improvements purely by providing grants, how are they going to be measuring the effect of the money they'll be spending? Presumably they'll still be using EPCs? Or are they proposing to just blindly piss money up the wall in the hope that some of it will flow somewhere useful?

Really, it's almost like they haven't thought this through at all.

I agree on most of those points in the last posting. EPCs do have value with their Fabric and Environmental Impact numbers for what was a simplistic, cheap process designed to save money - as such it is not robust. Aiui the environmental ratings are based on primary energy use and improvement not point-of-use, so decarbonising the electricity supply has had an impact on the algorithm - as the aim is reducing UK emissions.

There is a fuller version that most EPC consultants can do, which you have to do on the design of a newbuild and which costs £250-400 not £50-70.

My rule of thumb from experience is that 3 grades of EPC improvement represents roughly a halving of energy use, which under current circs will be half of what it would be otherwise for an identical but lower EPC property, or bills may be the same or somewhat reduced compared to bills from before improvements to the current property. In the rental market this now means that poor EPC equals more difficult marketing, possibly lower rent, and poorer quality tenants.

Improvements of the overall housing stick since say 2005 have been substantial - see the graph I posted at comment 4 in this thread.

At home I probably have improvements of around two bands (some incremental improvements and a lot of solar panels) and my bills should be approx the same (£1400-1500) over this year as they were in 2014 in cash terms, which is an ~30% fall in real terms. In the interim they fell to £8-900 and have gone back up with recent energy prices. 4 bedroom 200 sqm house - good quality but not passive.

I wish I'd put money on Ireland when they were 188/8 in order to cash out now.

isam said:

…

kinabalu said:

isam said:

HYUFD said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

HYUFD said:

Sunak's ratings are still better than Truss' and no other Tory leader would be polling much better.

Rather than have yet another pointless leadership election after they removed election winner Boris, the Conservatives should get behind the reduction of inflation and hence interest rates and restoration of economic growth Sunak and Hunt are focused on

There haven't been any Tory poll leads since December 6th, 2021. Seven months BEFORE Boris resigned.

The Labour lead when Boris
resigned was half what it is now and when Truss was leader Labour were up to 30% ahead

I wonder when his critics will admit that getting rid of Boris was a catastrophic error. I know people like to look to challenge the obvious, but ousting a charismatic incumbent who is a proven winner (you can add Cameron to Mayor Livingstone & Corbyn) only to see a humongous slide in the VI polls while both replacements personal ratings
tank, is a ricket of biblical proportions

Are you doing anything specific to keep a bit of Boris in your life? Because memories fade. You think they won't but they do.

Not specifically, I just reply to posts on here with my views

The 'charismatic proven winner' self destructed, sadly. Big legacy though.

Smith and Arundell could win the World Cup for England in 2027

Malmesbury said:

darkage said:

AlsoLei said:

darkage said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

I see that amongst the reforms Sunak has dropped, less publicised, has been the requirement for landlords to ensure their properties are C rated for energy efficiency at least.

This is absurd.

If you want to be a landlord your property should be of a decent standard and habitable. Expecting tenants to pay through the nose for energy because landlords can't be bothered to make homes habitable is utterly insane.

Shame on Sunak.

The 'EPC rating' has nothing to do with the quality of accommodation. It is a rating system for energy efficiency. The incoming requirement to achieve a set 'level' to let out properties out has been a major contributory factor in private landlords exiting the market. This has, in combination with other things, pushed up rents by hundreds of pounds a month across the entirety of UK because of a shortage of supply. The energy savings from the measures come at great cost (ie double glazing) and hassle, and probably save a few quid a month to tenants. Instead they are replacing it with what seems like a better system, incentivising the upgrades through grants.

The savings are more than a few quid. My current place has an EPC score of 87 (a high 'B'), and my gas + electric bill is about £65/month. The unrefurbished but otherwise-identical flat next door has a score of 67 (so a 'D' rating), and has a projected primary energy use that's just over 2.1x mine. The only comparable E-rated place on my street uses 4.6x more energy per sq metre. That's a lot.

The regulations as they currently stand are about setting a reasonable floor, not enforcing best practice. They're intended to ratchet up at a steady pace (one grade every 8 years, is it?) that roughly fits with normal landlord refurbishment schedules.

When the grade E floor came in, it had a cost cap of £3,500 - if the necessary improvements cost more than that, then an exemption would be granted. And there were local authority grants and government-supported finance options available to fund it. Presumably something similar would have applied to the future steps of the ratchet.

I realise that EPCs are fairly crude with a number of potential edge cases like yours. But a more accurate system would likely cost much more to run, with much more intrusive inspections needed.

If the government is now proposing to incentivise improvements purely by providing grants, how are they going to be measuring the effect of the money they'll be spending? Presumably they'll still be using EPCs? Or are they proposing to just blindly piss money up the wall in the hope that some of it will flow somewhere useful?

Really, it's almost like they haven't thought this through at all.

It is hard to express how stupid these rules are for period properties.

The recommendations for my property are
1. internal or external wall insulation.
Comment. This would either destroy the appearance of the outside of the building or alternatively wreck all of its internal period features, ie the architraves and mouldings. notwithstanding the cost (£4000-£14000), for an estimated saving of £460 per year. (so about a third of the total heating bill... which I am highly sceptical of).

2. Double glazing
Comment. The property has handmade timber windows that date back to when it was built. There are a total of over 70 individual windows. The EPC recommends ripping all these out and replacing it with double glazing, ie factory made plastic windows which can only be regarded as an act of architectural vandalism. The 'typical yearly saving' of this would be, wait for it.... £41.

Double glazed sash and other repro windows exist. No plastic involved.

There are insulation options for period properties - internal - that while thinner and more expensive, do actually work.

Edit: if 70 windows are only leaking £41 worth of heat, then you should have them examined by experts. Those 70 windows are a revolution in insulation, just by themselves.

We are about a third of the way through replacing our leaky single glazed sashes with double glazed versions - all wooden box sashes, sash cords, the works. Just counting up I think we now have 9 double glazed out of 21 so closer to half, including 2 of the biggest ones.

I agree wall insulation is difficult. I regret we didn’t put some internal wall lining in when we reconfigured this place (it was an old derelict United services club so we had to reinstate much of the cornicing anyway, using a company that take moulds of originals).

Ireland were 350/1 to win about 15 minutes ago, now 26/1.

https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/en/cricket/one-day-internationals/england-v-ireland-betting-32650774

Andy_JS said:

Leon said:

boulay said:

RobD said:

Andy_JS said:

"Hundreds of XL Bully owners mount angry protest against plan to ban their pets (after deciding to leave their dogs at home) after spate of attacks on children and passers-by sparked outrage"

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12552529/XL-Bully-owners-protest-London-against-Rishi-Sunaks-ban-beloved-pets-series-vicious-attacks-leave-dogs-home.html

Hundreds?

Got to love pulling numbers out of arses. The rugby commentator just opined that people in Chile will be watching this match in their millions. The population is about 19 million and it is Saturday lunchtime there. Do they really think a large chunk of the population have stopped in their tracks to watch a minor sport n tv?

I know Chile, been a few times

They love their sport and they are very patriotic, I reckon it is quite possible 2-3 million will watch this, ESPECIALLY as it is on at such a friendly time. Bars will be full

Is rugby the second-biggest sport in Chile after football.

Basketball, I think.

TheScreamingEagles said:

The biggest donor to the Conservative Party before the last election has said there is “no chance whatsoever” of him backing Rishi Sunak after the prime minister’s green policy U-turn.

The billionaire John Caudwell said he is now considering whether to switch allegiance to Labour after being left “beyond shocked” at the “madness” of Sunak’s reversal on reforms brought in by Boris Johnson.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/john-caudwell-interview-tory-donor-sunak-net-zero-5nl8q7bwh

Yeah but he's a member of The Elite, not like working class Rishi

…

Leon said:

Smith and Arundell could win the World Cup for England in 2027

I think Arundell was useful in France during the Hundred Years’ War so bodes well. We also have Joe Marler who looks like an English man-at-arms who’s been preserved in aspic and left in France after going too far in the chevauchée so the win is on.

Ratters said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Rishi Sunak draws up plans to slash inheritance tax

Targeting ‘the most hated tax in Britain’ is just one of the crowd-pleasing policy changes in the mix for the Tory conference

Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to slash inheritance tax, which his officials have called “the most hated tax in Britain”.

Cutting the levy before eventually abolishing it entirely is one of a raft of crowd-pleasing announcements being considered before next month’s Conservative Party conference.

As part of his pledge to announce a series of long-term decisions designed to change Britain, Sunak would frame the policy as an “aspirational offer to voteFrs” ahead of the general election....

...Three sources confirmed that there is a live discussion at the highest level of government about reforming inheritance tax. One proposal being considered is for Sunak to announce his intention to phase out the levy by reducing the 40 per cent inheritance tax rate in the budget in March, while setting out a pathway to abolish it completely in future years.

This would tally with comments made last week by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, that there would be no tax cuts when he presents his latest plan at the end of November.

It would also make inheritance tax an election issue and put Sir Keir Starmer on the spot about whether he was prepared to make the same cuts in years to come.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-draws-up-plans-to-slash-inheritance-tax-2bqttmcg9

Billionaire in cutting inheritance tax shock move.

Inheritance tax is weirdly unpopular considering how few people pay it.

Labour are on their tactical game I think so I doubt we’ll get class war response. Obvious rebuttal is to talk about priorities: schools falling down, economy on its knees, sewage in our rivers, and all Sunak wants to talk about is inheritance tax. Out of touch etc.

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I know this triggers some but our son called round and said that he has not met anyone, either at work or socially, that is supportive of the new 20mph zone and even Plaid supporters he works with are angry

The petition administered by the Senedd is now at an astonishing 403,000 votes and continues to grow

There will be some who are trying to debase the petition, but this has become the major story in Wales and hopefully common sense reviews by LA'S will take place

Wasn't there a header on PB recently showing there was more support than opposition.

There are always good reasons why someone might not meet people who admit to certain views. Could be there aren't many people with that view, or maybe the person is overbearing and people just don't want the argument. Or they only mix with people with certain views. Or they might just be lying.

Look to the polling. Or at least tell us your son's methodology.

https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/09/20/an-rw-welsh-poll-finds-backing-for-the-20mph-speed-limit/

On that poll it is qualified by where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists

I hope you are not inferring my son is misleading me but he works in IT in education and not one of his colleagues has a good word to say about the implementation, furthermore his friends and social contacts are the same

Ironically my son in law has just phoned and said he is not finding anyone in favour and remarked that one of the 20mph zones was 60mph not long ago

Over 400,000 signature on a Senedd petition is unprecedented and it will result in some changes to the new speed limits

I'm not inferring or even implying anything. I'm listing the reasons why anecdotes are worse than data.

Did we ever work out how many of these 400,000 signatures are actually people in Wales, and not just randos dialling it in from afar after having googled "Welsh postcodes"?

Again you are attempting to debase the petition

According to the Senedd petitions committee - 20,535 (5.069%) are English, 814 (0.201%) Scots, and 137 (0.034%) are Northern Irish , leaving 383,207 (94.598%) Welsh

In all elections or petitions there will be those with malign intent, but it seems the Senedd committee does require verification of e mails and I am sure they will provide detailed information on their petition in due course including those votes rejected by them

And to all those in England endorsing Wales action I look forward to them lobbying Starmer to implement the same policy in England

I just signed the petition, giving a fake Welsh postcode.

I signed it as "Dylan Thomas"

405,322 signatures
We’ve added your signature to the petition

Dead easy to fake it. Took me less than a minute.

So.

How many of the signatures are people demonstrating how easy it is to fake a signature?

TimS said:

Ratters said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Rishi Sunak draws up plans to slash inheritance tax

Targeting ‘the most hated tax in Britain’ is just one of the crowd-pleasing policy changes in the mix for the Tory conference

Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to slash inheritance tax, which his officials have called “the most hated tax in Britain”.

Cutting the levy before eventually abolishing it entirely is one of a raft of crowd-pleasing announcements being considered before next month’s Conservative Party conference.

As part of his pledge to announce a series of long-term decisions designed to change Britain, Sunak would frame the policy as an “aspirational offer to voteFrs” ahead of the general election....

...Three sources confirmed that there is a live discussion at the highest level of government about reforming inheritance tax. One proposal being considered is for Sunak to announce his intention to phase out the levy by reducing the 40 per cent inheritance tax rate in the budget in March, while setting out a pathway to abolish it completely in future years.

This would tally with comments made last week by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, that there would be no tax cuts when he presents his latest plan at the end of November.

It would also make inheritance tax an election issue and put Sir Keir Starmer on the spot about whether he was prepared to make the same cuts in years to come.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-draws-up-plans-to-slash-inheritance-tax-2bqttmcg9

Billionaire in cutting inheritance tax shock move.

Inheritance tax is weirdly unpopular considering how few people pay it.

Labour are on their tactical game I think so I doubt we’ll get class war response. Obvious rebuttal is to talk about priorities: schools falling down, economy on its knees, sewage in our rivers, and all Sunak wants to talk about is inheritance tax. Out of touch etc.

It's a bit like in America where tax cuts for the rich are supported by a surprising number of low income voters

isam said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

The biggest donor to the Conservative Party before the last election has said there is “no chance whatsoever” of him backing Rishi Sunak after the prime minister’s green policy U-turn.

The billionaire John Caudwell said he is now considering whether to switch allegiance to Labour after being left “beyond shocked” at the “madness” of Sunak’s reversal on reforms brought in by Boris Johnson.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/john-caudwell-interview-tory-donor-sunak-net-zero-5nl8q7bwh

Fair enough if he doesn’t want to donate money to the Tories, but it’s a bit mad that he might give the money to Labour rather than just do nothing isn’t it?

I’m not sure he will get what he likes from Labour in other ways so agreed it’s a weird one. Maybe a case of someone who has lots of money thinks everything should go their way because they donate to a political party if I was cynical.

isam said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

The biggest donor to the Conservative Party before the last election has said there is “no chance whatsoever” of him backing Rishi Sunak after the prime minister’s green policy U-turn.

The billionaire John Caudwell said he is now considering whether to switch allegiance to Labour after being left “beyond shocked” at the “madness” of Sunak’s reversal on reforms brought in by Boris Johnson.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/john-caudwell-interview-tory-donor-sunak-net-zero-5nl8q7bwh

Fair enough if he doesn’t want to donate money to the Tories, but it’s a bit mad that he might give the money to Labour rather than just do nothing isn’t it?

Not really.

If he thinks Sunak's Conservatives need to be stopped, then Starmer's Labour is the only realistic vehicle to do that.

2019 in reverse.

The UK IHT is very fair compared to many other countries . Reducing it which will cost billions whilst social care is collapsing sums up this government.

Where are the Tories going to find all this money to deliver their desperate election bribes or are those questions only relevant to the opposition parties ?

Andy_JS said:

Ireland were 350/1 to win about 15 minutes ago, now 26/1.

https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/en/cricket/one-day-internationals/england-v-ireland-betting-32650774

Thanks for the Stirling (sic) work you did with that comment, I was getting worried.

Ratters said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Rishi Sunak draws up plans to slash inheritance tax

Targeting ‘the most hated tax in Britain’ is just one of the crowd-pleasing policy changes in the mix for the Tory conference

Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to slash inheritance tax, which his officials have called “the most hated tax in Britain”.

Cutting the levy before eventually abolishing it entirely is one of a raft of crowd-pleasing announcements being considered before next month’s Conservative Party conference.

As part of his pledge to announce a series of long-term decisions designed to change Britain, Sunak would frame the policy as an “aspirational offer to voteFrs” ahead of the general election....

...Three sources confirmed that there is a live discussion at the highest level of government about reforming inheritance tax. One proposal being considered is for Sunak to announce his intention to phase out the levy by reducing the 40 per cent inheritance tax rate in the budget in March, while setting out a pathway to abolish it completely in future years.

This would tally with comments made last week by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, that there would be no tax cuts when he presents his latest plan at the end of November.

It would also make inheritance tax an election issue and put Sir Keir Starmer on the spot about whether he was prepared to make the same cuts in years to come.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-draws-up-plans-to-slash-inheritance-tax-2bqttmcg9

Billionaire in cutting inheritance tax shock move.

This is just more brain-dead Rishi smokescreen stuff meaning nothing before an Election.

He's up a creek with no paddle, desperately knocking holes in the bottom of his boat looking for a submerged rock to beach it on.

Inheritance Tax raises 7.2bn a year. Where's the money coming from to pay for it given that the Government is running a deficit of just under £100bn per annum?

TimS said:

Ratters said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Rishi Sunak draws up plans to slash inheritance tax

Targeting ‘the most hated tax in Britain’ is just one of the crowd-pleasing policy changes in the mix for the Tory conference

Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to slash inheritance tax, which his officials have called “the most hated tax in Britain”.

Cutting the levy before eventually abolishing it entirely is one of a raft of crowd-pleasing announcements being considered before next month’s Conservative Party conference.

As part of his pledge to announce a series of long-term decisions designed to change Britain, Sunak would frame the policy as an “aspirational offer to voteFrs” ahead of the general election....

...Three sources confirmed that there is a live discussion at the highest level of government about reforming inheritance tax. One proposal being considered is for Sunak to announce his intention to phase out the levy by reducing the 40 per cent inheritance tax rate in the budget in March, while setting out a pathway to abolish it completely in future years.

This would tally with comments made last week by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, that there would be no tax cuts when he presents his latest plan at the end of November.

It would also make inheritance tax an election issue and put Sir Keir Starmer on the spot about whether he was prepared to make the same cuts in years to come.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-draws-up-plans-to-slash-inheritance-tax-2bqttmcg9

Billionaire in cutting inheritance tax shock move.

Inheritance tax is weirdly unpopular considering how few people pay it.

Labour are on their tactical game I think so I doubt we’ll get class war response. Obvious rebuttal is to talk about priorities: schools falling down, economy on its knees, sewage in our rivers, and all Sunak wants to talk about is inheritance tax. Out of touch etc.

That’s the best response from Labour . They could if their intelligent turn the IHT Sunak giveaway into a huge own goal for the government.

nico679 said:

The UK IHT is very fair compared to many other countries . Reducing it which will cost billions whilst social care is collapsing sums up this government.

Where are the Tories going to find all this money to deliver their desperate election bribes or are those questions only relevant to the opposition parties ?

It’s probably not the point. Labour have been taking the approach that they don’t need to say what they will do. They keep saying they will confirm plans, policies and costs nearer to an election. The Tories by announcing policies are forcing Labour to announce a year out if they will copy or go against which creates lines and removes the comfort that Labour have of hoping that people just hate the Tories. It gives space for Labour to make counter policies that aren’t actually popular when people have time to digest them.

The Tories have a 1% chance of winning so nothing to lose but they are setting up traps that force Labour to either say what their alternative is or keep saying nothing and look devoid of ideas or shifty because they won’t say what they would do.

Dr Who 60th Anniversary Specials Trailer is out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEkC6InjWQ8

Stuartinromford said:

isam said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

The biggest donor to the Conservative Party before the last election has said there is “no chance whatsoever” of him backing Rishi Sunak after the prime minister’s green policy U-turn.

The billionaire John Caudwell said he is now considering whether to switch allegiance to Labour after being left “beyond shocked” at the “madness” of Sunak’s reversal on reforms brought in by Boris Johnson.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/john-caudwell-interview-tory-donor-sunak-net-zero-5nl8q7bwh

Fair enough if he doesn’t want to donate money to the Tories, but it’s a bit mad that he might give the money to Labour rather than just do nothing isn’t it?

Not really.

If he thinks Sunak's Conservatives need to be stopped, then Starmer's Labour is the only realistic vehicle to do that.

2019 in reverse.

Being the biggest donor to a party then giving the money to their rival because of a tweak to one policy sounds borderline insane to me, but it takes all sorts

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I know this triggers some but our son called round and said that he has not met anyone, either at work or socially, that is supportive of the new 20mph zone and even Plaid supporters he works with are angry

The petition administered by the Senedd is now at an astonishing 403,000 votes and continues to grow

There will be some who are trying to debase the petition, but this has become the major story in Wales and hopefully common sense reviews by LA'S will take place

Wasn't there a header on PB recently showing there was more support than opposition.

There are always good reasons why someone might not meet people who admit to certain views. Could be there aren't many people with that view, or maybe the person is overbearing and people just don't want the argument. Or they only mix with people with certain views. Or they might just be lying.

Look to the polling. Or at least tell us your son's methodology.

https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/09/20/an-rw-welsh-poll-finds-backing-for-the-20mph-speed-limit/

On that poll it is qualified by where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists

I hope you are not inferring my son is misleading me but he works in IT in education and not one of his colleagues has a good word to say about the implementation, furthermore his friends and social contacts are the same

Ironically my son in law has just phoned and said he is not finding anyone in favour and remarked that one of the 20mph zones was 60mph not long ago

Over 400,000 signature on a Senedd petition is unprecedented and it will result in some changes to the new speed limits

I'm not inferring or even implying anything. I'm listing the reasons why anecdotes are worse than data.

Did we ever work out how many of these 400,000 signatures are actually people in Wales, and not just randos dialling it in from afar after having googled "Welsh postcodes"?

Again you are attempting to debase the petition

According to the Senedd petitions committee - 20,535 (5.069%) are English, 814 (0.201%) Scots, and 137 (0.034%) are Northern Irish , leaving 383,207 (94.598%) Welsh

In all elections or petitions there will be those with malign intent, but it seems the Senedd committee does require verification of e mails and I am sure they will provide detailed information on their petition in due course including those votes rejected by them

And to all those in England endorsing Wales action I look forward to them lobbying Starmer to implement the same policy in England

How are they getting those figures? Even if they're doing geolocation through google analytics, it won't be picking up anyone who's using an adblocker or a vpn or many types of mobile internet.

Their numbers should therefore include a 15-25% level of "unknown / unverified location", but they don't... so what's going on? The obvious implication is that they're simply using the user-provided postcode without doing any verification at all. Which is, er, useless.

As for advocating 20mph elsewhere - sure. I can't see why anyone should ever be doing more than 20mph along residential streets in built-up areas. Why should kids have to be locked in their houses so that drivers can shave a minute or two off their journeys?

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I know this triggers some but our son called round and said that he has not met anyone, either at work or socially, that is supportive of the new 20mph zone and even Plaid supporters he works with are angry

The petition administered by the Senedd is now at an astonishing 403,000 votes and continues to grow

There will be some who are trying to debase the petition, but this has become the major story in Wales and hopefully common sense reviews by LA'S will take place

Wasn't there a header on PB recently showing there was more support than opposition.

There are always good reasons why someone might not meet people who admit to certain views. Could be there aren't many people with that view, or maybe the person is overbearing and people just don't want the argument. Or they only mix with people with certain views. Or they might just be lying.

Look to the polling. Or at least tell us your son's methodology.

https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/09/20/an-rw-welsh-poll-finds-backing-for-the-20mph-speed-limit/

On that poll it is qualified by where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists

I hope you are not inferring my son is misleading me but he works in IT in education and not one of his colleagues has a good word to say about the implementation, furthermore his friends and social contacts are the same

Ironically my son in law has just phoned and said he is not finding anyone in favour and remarked that one of the 20mph zones was 60mph not long ago

Over 400,000 signature on a Senedd petition is unprecedented and it will result in some changes to the new speed limits

I'm not inferring or even implying anything. I'm listing the reasons why anecdotes are worse than data.

Did we ever work out how many of these 400,000 signatures are actually people in Wales, and not just randos dialling it in from afar after having googled "Welsh postcodes"?

Again you are attempting to debase the petition

According to the Senedd petitions committee - 20,535 (5.069%) are English, 814 (0.201%) Scots, and 137 (0.034%) are Northern Irish , leaving 383,207 (94.598%) Welsh

In all elections or petitions there will be those with malign intent, but it seems the Senedd committee does require verification of e mails and I am sure they will provide detailed information on their petition in due course including those votes rejected by them

And to all those in England endorsing Wales action I look forward to them lobbying Starmer to implement the same policy in England

I just signed the petition, giving a fake Welsh postcode.

I signed it as "Dylan Thomas"

405,322 signatures
We’ve added your signature to the petition

Dead easy to fake it. Took me less than a minute.

Just adds to the numbers that will be published and will not as you hope debase is

Doesn't it prove to you that there's a bit of a flaw in the system?

No - because the numbers trying to debase the official Senedd petition will be small compared to the 400,000 plus already signed and it actually is self defeating as the petition keeps growing which is already in the stratosphere for Wales

Furthermore Drakeford is hardly going to address the Senedd and accuse it of being a fake petition

How do you know the numbers are small?

You can sign it from anywhere, and as long as you put a Welsh postcode in, it counts.

I presume you've signed it. How can they tell your genuine signature from my fake one? You're just assuming that most are genuine because that's the conclusion you want to see. I'm putting the evidence right in front of you that says you cannot trust this as being true. You have no idea how many fakes there are. No idea at all.

Frankly it is of no consequence as the public see the numbers, the media report the numbers, the Senedd petitions committee will confirm the numbers, and it will be debated and changes happen, most likely at LA level

Farooq said:

AlsoLei said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I know this triggers some but our son called round and said that he has not met anyone, either at work or socially, that is supportive of the new 20mph zone and even Plaid supporters he works with are angry

The petition administered by the Senedd is now at an astonishing 403,000 votes and continues to grow

There will be some who are trying to debase the petition, but this has become the major story in Wales and hopefully common sense reviews by LA'S will take place

Wasn't there a header on PB recently showing there was more support than opposition.

There are always good reasons why someone might not meet people who admit to certain views. Could be there aren't many people with that view, or maybe the person is overbearing and people just don't want the argument. Or they only mix with people with certain views. Or they might just be lying.

Look to the polling. Or at least tell us your son's methodology.

https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/09/20/an-rw-welsh-poll-finds-backing-for-the-20mph-speed-limit/

On that poll it is qualified by where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists

I hope you are not inferring my son is misleading me but he works in IT in education and not one of his colleagues has a good word to say about the implementation, furthermore his friends and social contacts are the same

Ironically my son in law has just phoned and said he is not finding anyone in favour and remarked that one of the 20mph zones was 60mph not long ago

Over 400,000 signature on a Senedd petition is unprecedented and it will result in some changes to the new speed limits

I'm not inferring or even implying anything. I'm listing the reasons why anecdotes are worse than data.

Did we ever work out how many of these 400,000 signatures are actually people in Wales, and not just randos dialling it in from afar after having googled "Welsh postcodes"?

Again you are attempting to debase the petition

According to the Senedd petitions committee - 20,535 (5.069%) are English, 814 (0.201%) Scots, and 137 (0.034%) are Northern Irish , leaving 383,207 (94.598%) Welsh

In all elections or petitions there will be those with malign intent, but it seems the Senedd committee does require verification of e mails and I am sure they will provide detailed information on their petition in due course including those votes rejected by them

And to all those in England endorsing Wales action I look forward to them lobbying Starmer to implement the same policy in England

How are they getting those figures? Even if they're doing geolocation through google analytics, it won't be picking up anyone who's using an adblocker or a vpn or many types of mobile internet.

Their numbers should therefore include a 15-25% level of "unknown / unverified location", but they don't... so what's going on? The obvious implication is that they're simply using the user-provided postcode without doing any verification at all. Which is, er, useless.

As for advocating 20mph elsewhere - sure. I can't see why anyone should ever be doing more than 20mph along residential streets in built-up areas. Why should kids have to be locked in their houses so that drivers can shave a minute or two off their journeys?

I don't know, but I've now signed it twice, once pretending to be in Wales, another time saying I'm in Scotland.

I suspect it's using the self-reported postcode rather than geolocation, and if that's correct then gaming the system is INCREDIBLY easy. People could be signing it from Belarus and just pretending they're in Bargoed.

To be fair, they’d probably be better off if they were in Bargoed.
A bit, anyway!

Casino_Royale said:

Leon said:

For a king who was meant to be a disaster, and stoke the fires of republicanism, King Charles seems to be awful popular in France

Vive le Roi! Vive le Roi!

https://x.com/MacronardsFM/status/1704511252284756111?s=20

There is still a strong monarchist minority in France.

Several minorities. Legitimist, Orleanist, Bonapartist.

It was because they could not choose between them (and the Comte de Chambord would not accept the tricolor as his flag), that the Third Republic was created in the first place.

John Steinbeck wrote a rather charming novella "The Short Reign of Pippin IV" about the idea of a French Monarchy coming back in the fifties to replace the fourth Republic. In the end they got the thoroughly monarchist Fifth Republic...

Gardenwalker said:

It makes good political sense to promise the abolition of inheritance tax I imagine, but let’s dispense of the idea that Rishi gives a flying fuck about the country.

He is quite literally cutting spend to growth promoting infra, and giving it back to the elderly and well off.

He is a rentier’s wet dream.

He's trying to save the Conservatives from a complete wipe out. Expect him to take risks.

CatMan said:

TimS said:

Ratters said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Rishi Sunak draws up plans to slash inheritance tax

Targeting ‘the most hated tax in Britain’ is just one of the crowd-pleasing policy changes in the mix for the Tory conference

Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to slash inheritance tax, which his officials have called “the most hated tax in Britain”.

Cutting the levy before eventually abolishing it entirely is one of a raft of crowd-pleasing announcements being considered before next month’s Conservative Party conference.

As part of his pledge to announce a series of long-term decisions designed to change Britain, Sunak would frame the policy as an “aspirational offer to voteFrs” ahead of the general election....

...Three sources confirmed that there is a live discussion at the highest level of government about reforming inheritance tax. One proposal being considered is for Sunak to announce his intention to phase out the levy by reducing the 40 per cent inheritance tax rate in the budget in March, while setting out a pathway to abolish it completely in future years.

This would tally with comments made last week by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, that there would be no tax cuts when he presents his latest plan at the end of November.

It would also make inheritance tax an election issue and put Sir Keir Starmer on the spot about whether he was prepared to make the same cuts in years to come.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-draws-up-plans-to-slash-inheritance-tax-2bqttmcg9

Billionaire in cutting inheritance tax shock move.

Inheritance tax is weirdly unpopular considering how few people pay it.

Labour are on their tactical game I think so I doubt we’ll get class war response. Obvious rebuttal is to talk about priorities: schools falling down, economy on its knees, sewage in our rivers, and all Sunak wants to talk about is inheritance tax. Out of touch etc.

It's a bit like in America where tax cuts for the rich are supported by a surprising number of low income voters

It works on two levels: both if you're a current property owner, and if you think you'll be a future beneficiary.

I'm launching a petition to send to the site police proposing a ban on any further discussion or mention of the Welsh 20mph speed limit controversy. It's doing my head in.

Anybody want to sign? No fakes, please, only bona fide PB contributors.

On the 20mph in Wales I have quoted opinions of our family, their family and work colleagues, friends and associates, media reports, and the numbers signing the Senedd petition

I have done this honestly and the attempts to debase the petition, largely from outside Wales, is pointless as the petition numbers will be announced by the Senedd petitions committee and a debate arranged

One thing is certain the law will not change, but roads will be reviewed and some will revert back

I hope everyone has a pleasant evening

AlsoLei said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Rishi Sunak draws up plans to slash inheritance tax

Targeting ‘the most hated tax in Britain’ is just one of the crowd-pleasing policy changes in the mix for the Tory conference

Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to slash inheritance tax, which his officials have called “the most hated tax in Britain”.

Cutting the levy before eventually abolishing it entirely is one of a raft of crowd-pleasing announcements being considered before next month’s Conservative Party conference.

As part of his pledge to announce a series of long-term decisions designed to change Britain, Sunak would frame the policy as an “aspirational offer to voteFrs” ahead of the general election....

...Three sources confirmed that there is a live discussion at the highest level of government about reforming inheritance tax. One proposal being considered is for Sunak to announce his intention to phase out the levy by reducing the 40 per cent inheritance tax rate in the budget in March, while setting out a pathway to abolish it completely in future years.

This would tally with comments made last week by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, that there would be no tax cuts when he presents his latest plan at the end of November.

It would also make inheritance tax an election issue and put Sir Keir Starmer on the spot about whether he was prepared to make the same cuts in years to come.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-draws-up-plans-to-slash-inheritance-tax-2bqttmcg9

Fucking hell. It's only a day or two after they announced that there's not going to be room to reduce taxes given the current economic outlook. And now Sunak's changed his mind already. This government is swerving all over the place, doing at least two handbrake turns every day. Who can trust anything they say?

By the end of this conference season, he'll have announced that he's re-instating his meat tax, abolished it again, brought it back at double the rate, and committed to a consultation on a complex system of rebates based on the number of bins you have.

I think increasing the personal allowance is a rather greater priority than reducing inheritance tax!

Farooq said:

AlsoLei said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I know this triggers some but our son called round and said that he has not met anyone, either at work or socially, that is supportive of the new 20mph zone and even Plaid supporters he works with are angry

The petition administered by the Senedd is now at an astonishing 403,000 votes and continues to grow

There will be some who are trying to debase the petition, but this has become the major story in Wales and hopefully common sense reviews by LA'S will take place

Wasn't there a header on PB recently showing there was more support than opposition.

There are always good reasons why someone might not meet people who admit to certain views. Could be there aren't many people with that view, or maybe the person is overbearing and people just don't want the argument. Or they only mix with people with certain views. Or they might just be lying.

Look to the polling. Or at least tell us your son's methodology.

https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/09/20/an-rw-welsh-poll-finds-backing-for-the-20mph-speed-limit/

On that poll it is qualified by where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists

I hope you are not inferring my son is misleading me but he works in IT in education and not one of his colleagues has a good word to say about the implementation, furthermore his friends and social contacts are the same

Ironically my son in law has just phoned and said he is not finding anyone in favour and remarked that one of the 20mph zones was 60mph not long ago

Over 400,000 signature on a Senedd petition is unprecedented and it will result in some changes to the new speed limits

I'm not inferring or even implying anything. I'm listing the reasons why anecdotes are worse than data.

Did we ever work out how many of these 400,000 signatures are actually people in Wales, and not just randos dialling it in from afar after having googled "Welsh postcodes"?

Again you are attempting to debase the petition

According to the Senedd petitions committee - 20,535 (5.069%) are English, 814 (0.201%) Scots, and 137 (0.034%) are Northern Irish , leaving 383,207 (94.598%) Welsh

In all elections or petitions there will be those with malign intent, but it seems the Senedd committee does require verification of e mails and I am sure they will provide detailed information on their petition in due course including those votes rejected by them

And to all those in England endorsing Wales action I look forward to them lobbying Starmer to implement the same policy in England

How are they getting those figures? Even if they're doing geolocation through google analytics, it won't be picking up anyone who's using an adblocker or a vpn or many types of mobile internet.

Their numbers should therefore include a 15-25% level of "unknown / unverified location", but they don't... so what's going on? The obvious implication is that they're simply using the user-provided postcode without doing any verification at all. Which is, er, useless.

As for advocating 20mph elsewhere - sure. I can't see why anyone should ever be doing more than 20mph along residential streets in built-up areas. Why should kids have to be locked in their houses so that drivers can shave a minute or two off their journeys?

I don't know, but I've now signed it twice, once pretending to be in Wales, another time saying I'm in Scotland.

I suspect it's using the self-reported postcode rather than geolocation, and if that's correct then gaming the system is INCREDIBLY easy. People could be signing it from Belarus and just pretending they're in Bargoed.

Probably also lots of signatures from bots / click farms and the like, paid for by anyone who's sufficiently motivated to spend a few quid on skewing the results.

There's always a level of that, of course, but it'll be much higher in this case given the level of publicity that it's attracted.

Stuartinromford said:

AlsoLei said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Rishi Sunak draws up plans to slash inheritance tax

Targeting ‘the most hated tax in Britain’ is just one of the crowd-pleasing policy changes in the mix for the Tory conference

Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to slash inheritance tax, which his officials have called “the most hated tax in Britain”.

Cutting the levy before eventually abolishing it entirely is one of a raft of crowd-pleasing announcements being considered before next month’s Conservative Party conference.

As part of his pledge to announce a series of long-term decisions designed to change Britain, Sunak would frame the policy as an “aspirational offer to voteFrs” ahead of the general election....

...Three sources confirmed that there is a live discussion at the highest level of government about reforming inheritance tax. One proposal being considered is for Sunak to announce his intention to phase out the levy by reducing the 40 per cent inheritance tax rate in the budget in March, while setting out a pathway to abolish it completely in future years.

This would tally with comments made last week by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, that there would be no tax cuts when he presents his latest plan at the end of November.

It would also make inheritance tax an election issue and put Sir Keir Starmer on the spot about whether he was prepared to make the same cuts in years to come.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-draws-up-plans-to-slash-inheritance-tax-2bqttmcg9

Fucking hell. It's only a day or two after they announced that there's not going to be room to reduce taxes given the current economic outlook. And now Sunak's changed his mind already. This government is swerving all over the place, doing at least two handbrake turns every day. Who can trust anything they say?

By the end of this conference season, he'll have announced that he's re-instating his meat tax, abolished it again, brought it back at double the rate, and committed to a consultation on a complex system of rebates based on the number of bins you have.

That's the key thing.

A lot of the response to this week's announcements has been a cynical weary shrug. Only the terminally loyal think that Sunak is doing it for good reasons. The default response is that it's pointless gimmickry.

This iteration of the Conservative party broke through the Trust Thermocline a while back. Possibly with late Johnson, maybe with Truss. Point is, the break is decisive, and Rishi can't pull them back into warmer waters. Major managed it after Maggie. And Johnson after May. But it's not easy.

Cameron was able to pull off his IHT cut because he was new and not actively distrusted. Sunak is. Labour won't need to say "multi millionaire cuts tax for rich people", because many voters will be thinking it anyway.

(Blog describing the Trust Thermocline here:

https://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/sarahlethbridgelean/trust-thermoclines/)

You're not the target audience.

IHT is very unpopular.

TheScreamingEagles said:

What a shitty father the King is.

The Duke of Sussex must give due notice if he wishes to stay on a royal estate, The Telegraph understands, after he was denied a room at Windsor Castle earlier this month.

The Duke flew to London for the WellChild Awards, an annual charity event that this year fell on the eve of the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

Having established that it would be impossible to see his father due to their diary commitments and because the King was at Balmoral, the Duke asked if he could instead stay at Windsor Castle.

The arrangement would have enabled him to easily visit his grandmother’s resting place at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, the following day, which he also asked if he could do.

The visit was the Duke’s first since the Sussexes were evicted from Frogmore Cottage, their former Windsor home. It means they are now “homeless” when on UK soil and must ask permission from Buckingham Palace to stay on one of the royal estates.

Royal sources have stressed that such provision will be made where possible but that the palace must be given suitable warning of any such visit.

The Duke is next expecting to be in the UK in January, when his claim against News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun, for alleged unlawful information gathering is due to be heard at the High Court.

The Duke’s office first contacted Buckingham Palace after confirming his attendance at the WellChild Awards.

It said the Duke would love to see his father and stay with him if at all possible.

However, he was told he would have to put in a formal request. It is unclear whether the King was aware of such correspondence.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2023/09/23/prince-harry-notice-royal-estate-windsor-castle-balmoral/

I don’t let my family visit unless they have arranged it in advance. Can’t stand people just turning up. And they don’t even need to plan security access with the police and others.

BartholomewRoberts said:

darkage said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

I see that amongst the reforms Sunak has dropped, less publicised, has been the requirement for landlords to ensure their properties are C rated for energy efficiency at least.

This is absurd.

If you want to be a landlord your property should be of a decent standard and habitable. Expecting tenants to pay through the nose for energy because landlords can't be bothered to make homes habitable is utterly insane.

Shame on Sunak.

The 'EPC rating' has nothing to do with the quality of accommodation. It is a rating system for energy efficiency. The incoming requirement to achieve a set 'level' to let out properties out has been a major contributory factor in private landlords exiting the market. This has, in combination with other things, pushed up rents by hundreds of pounds a month across the entirety of UK because of a shortage of supply. The energy savings from the measures come at great cost (ie double glazing) and hassle, and probably save a few quid a month to tenants. Instead they are replacing it with what seems like a better system, incentivising the upgrades through grants.

Having to pay hundreds extra for gas and electricity each year because of poor quality draughty homes that don't have basic insulation is absolutely to do with the quality of accommodation.

As for any slumlords who leave the market because they don't want their homes to meet a minimum quality for their tenants - good riddance!

I'm with you on this one, Bart.

Crazy policy by Rishi. LMF.

They have a successful programme that has delivered major benefits over a long period, and he cans it in search of Schrodinger's Tory Voter.

Stuartinromford said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I know this triggers some but our son called round and said that he has not met anyone, either at work or socially, that is supportive of the new 20mph zone and even Plaid supporters he works with are angry

The petition administered by the Senedd is now at an astonishing 403,000 votes and continues to grow

There will be some who are trying to debase the petition, but this has become the major story in Wales and hopefully common sense reviews by LA'S will take place

Wasn't there a header on PB recently showing there was more support than opposition.

There are always good reasons why someone might not meet people who admit to certain views. Could be there aren't many people with that view, or maybe the person is overbearing and people just don't want the argument. Or they only mix with people with certain views. Or they might just be lying.

Look to the polling. Or at least tell us your son's methodology.

https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/09/20/an-rw-welsh-poll-finds-backing-for-the-20mph-speed-limit/

On that poll it is qualified by where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists

I hope you are not inferring my son is misleading me but he works in IT in education and not one of his colleagues has a good word to say about the implementation, furthermore his friends and social contacts are the same

Ironically my son in law has just phoned and said he is not finding anyone in favour and remarked that one of the 20mph zones was 60mph not long ago

Over 400,000 signature on a Senedd petition is unprecedented and it will result in some changes to the new speed limits

I'm not inferring or even implying anything. I'm listing the reasons why anecdotes are worse than data.

Did we ever work out how many of these 400,000 signatures are actually people in Wales, and not just randos dialling it in from afar after having googled "Welsh postcodes"?

Again you are attempting to debase the petition

According to the Senedd petitions committee - 20,535 (5.069%) are English, 814 (0.201%) Scots, and 137 (0.034%) are Northern Irish , leaving 383,207 (94.598%) Welsh

In all elections or petitions there will be those with malign intent, but it seems the Senedd committee does require verification of e mails and I am sure they will provide detailed information on their petition in due course including those votes rejected by them

And to all those in England endorsing Wales action I look forward to them lobbying Starmer to implement the same policy in England

I just signed the petition, giving a fake Welsh postcode.

I signed it as "Dylan Thomas"

405,322 signatures
We’ve added your signature to the petition

Dead easy to fake it. Took me less than a minute.

So.

How many of the signatures are people demonstrating how easy it is to fake a signature?

I'd like to think the proportion of complete dickheads amongst the general population isn't that high.

Luckyguy1983 said:

Stuartinromford said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I know this triggers some but our son called round and said that he has not met anyone, either at work or socially, that is supportive of the new 20mph zone and even Plaid supporters he works with are angry

The petition administered by the Senedd is now at an astonishing 403,000 votes and continues to grow

There will be some who are trying to debase the petition, but this has become the major story in Wales and hopefully common sense reviews by LA'S will take place

Wasn't there a header on PB recently showing there was more support than opposition.

There are always good reasons why someone might not meet people who admit to certain views. Could be there aren't many people with that view, or maybe the person is overbearing and people just don't want the argument. Or they only mix with people with certain views. Or they might just be lying.

Look to the polling. Or at least tell us your son's methodology.

https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/09/20/an-rw-welsh-poll-finds-backing-for-the-20mph-speed-limit/

On that poll it is qualified by where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists

I hope you are not inferring my son is misleading me but he works in IT in education and not one of his colleagues has a good word to say about the implementation, furthermore his friends and social contacts are the same

Ironically my son in law has just phoned and said he is not finding anyone in favour and remarked that one of the 20mph zones was 60mph not long ago

Over 400,000 signature on a Senedd petition is unprecedented and it will result in some changes to the new speed limits

I'm not inferring or even implying anything. I'm listing the reasons why anecdotes are worse than data.

Did we ever work out how many of these 400,000 signatures are actually people in Wales, and not just randos dialling it in from afar after having googled "Welsh postcodes"?

Again you are attempting to debase the petition

According to the Senedd petitions committee - 20,535 (5.069%) are English, 814 (0.201%) Scots, and 137 (0.034%) are Northern Irish , leaving 383,207 (94.598%) Welsh

In all elections or petitions there will be those with malign intent, but it seems the Senedd committee does require verification of e mails and I am sure they will provide detailed information on their petition in due course including those votes rejected by them

And to all those in England endorsing Wales action I look forward to them lobbying Starmer to implement the same policy in England

I just signed the petition, giving a fake Welsh postcode.

I signed it as "Dylan Thomas"

405,322 signatures
We’ve added your signature to the petition

Dead easy to fake it. Took me less than a minute.

So.

How many of the signatures are people demonstrating how easy it is to fake a signature?

I'd like to think the proportion of complete dickheads amongst the general population isn't that high.

Me too. Although... Leave won.

MattW said:

Andy_JS said:

Dog owners need to be held responsible for attacks by their dogs in exactly the same way as they would be if they had personally attacked someone themselves.

They are already responsible, under the Dangerous Dogs Act Section 3. Though I am not sure if I would extend this to putting the owner down. And "be *held* responsible" is perhaps the issue.

(1)If a dog is dangerously out of control in [F1 any place [F2in England or Wales] (whether or not a public place)])—

(a)the owner; and
(b)if different, the person for the time being in charge of the dog, is guilty of an offence, or, if the dog while so out of control injures any person [F3or assistance dog], an aggravated offence, under this subsection.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/65/section/3

Viewing the pics from:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12552529/XL-Bully-owners-protest-London-against-Rishi-Sunaks-ban-beloved-pets-series-vicious-attacks-leave-dogs-home.html


I was suddenly reminded of Martin Amis's Lionel Asbo.

"Lionel Asbo is a "brutally generic" yob. He looks a bit like Wayne Rooney: "the slab-like body, the full lump of the face, the tight-shaved crown with its tawny stubble"." (guardian)

"Who let the dogs in?
…This, we fear, is going to be the question.
Who let the dogs in?

Who let the dogs in?
Who?
Who?"


Prescient as ever...

Stuartinromford said:

Casino_Royale said:

Stuartinromford said:

AlsoLei said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Rishi Sunak draws up plans to slash inheritance tax

Targeting ‘the most hated tax in Britain’ is just one of the crowd-pleasing policy changes in the mix for the Tory conference

Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to slash inheritance tax, which his officials have called “the most hated tax in Britain”.

Cutting the levy before eventually abolishing it entirely is one of a raft of crowd-pleasing announcements being considered before next month’s Conservative Party conference.

As part of his pledge to announce a series of long-term decisions designed to change Britain, Sunak would frame the policy as an “aspirational offer to voteFrs” ahead of the general election....

...Three sources confirmed that there is a live discussion at the highest level of government about reforming inheritance tax. One proposal being considered is for Sunak to announce his intention to phase out the levy by reducing the 40 per cent inheritance tax rate in the budget in March, while setting out a pathway to abolish it completely in future years.

This would tally with comments made last week by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, that there would be no tax cuts when he presents his latest plan at the end of November.

It would also make inheritance tax an election issue and put Sir Keir Starmer on the spot about whether he was prepared to make the same cuts in years to come.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-draws-up-plans-to-slash-inheritance-tax-2bqttmcg9

Fucking hell. It's only a day or two after they announced that there's not going to be room to reduce taxes given the current economic outlook. And now Sunak's changed his mind already. This government is swerving all over the place, doing at least two handbrake turns every day. Who can trust anything they say?

By the end of this conference season, he'll have announced that he's re-instating his meat tax, abolished it again, brought it back at double the rate, and committed to a consultation on a complex system of rebates based on the number of bins you have.

That's the key thing.

A lot of the response to this week's announcements has been a cynical weary shrug. Only the terminally loyal think that Sunak is doing it for good reasons. The default response is that it's pointless gimmickry.

This iteration of the Conservative party broke through the Trust Thermocline a while back. Possibly with late Johnson, maybe with Truss. Point is, the break is decisive, and Rishi can't pull them back into warmer waters. Major managed it after Maggie. And Johnson after May. But it's not easy.

Cameron was able to pull off his IHT cut because he was new and not actively distrusted. Sunak is. Labour won't need to say "multi millionaire cuts tax for rich people", because many voters will be thinking it anyway.

(Blog describing the Trust Thermocline here:

https://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/sarahlethbridgelean/trust-thermoclines/)

You're not the target audience.

IHT is very unpopular.

True. But not necessarily my point.

Imagine a couple. One of them starts buying desirable, but expensive, gifts for the other.

At a certain point in the decay of the relationship, the recipient doesn't think "what a lovely (if expensive) gesture". Instead they think "what are they guilty about?"

That's the Trust Thermocline. My contention is that the Conservatives passed that a while back, and even if they do or promise good things, they won't be credited for doing them.

See also: Major's government post autumn 1992.

What's the betting Reeves has a plan up her sleeves for if Rollercoaster Rishi announces IHT scrapped/curtailed?

Luckyguy1983 said:

Stuartinromford said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I know this triggers some but our son called round and said that he has not met anyone, either at work or socially, that is supportive of the new 20mph zone and even Plaid supporters he works with are angry

The petition administered by the Senedd is now at an astonishing 403,000 votes and continues to grow

There will be some who are trying to debase the petition, but this has become the major story in Wales and hopefully common sense reviews by LA'S will take place

Wasn't there a header on PB recently showing there was more support than opposition.

There are always good reasons why someone might not meet people who admit to certain views. Could be there aren't many people with that view, or maybe the person is overbearing and people just don't want the argument. Or they only mix with people with certain views. Or they might just be lying.

Look to the polling. Or at least tell us your son's methodology.

https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/09/20/an-rw-welsh-poll-finds-backing-for-the-20mph-speed-limit/

On that poll it is qualified by where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists

I hope you are not inferring my son is misleading me but he works in IT in education and not one of his colleagues has a good word to say about the implementation, furthermore his friends and social contacts are the same

Ironically my son in law has just phoned and said he is not finding anyone in favour and remarked that one of the 20mph zones was 60mph not long ago

Over 400,000 signature on a Senedd petition is unprecedented and it will result in some changes to the new speed limits

I'm not inferring or even implying anything. I'm listing the reasons why anecdotes are worse than data.

Did we ever work out how many of these 400,000 signatures are actually people in Wales, and not just randos dialling it in from afar after having googled "Welsh postcodes"?

Again you are attempting to debase the petition

According to the Senedd petitions committee - 20,535 (5.069%) are English, 814 (0.201%) Scots, and 137 (0.034%) are Northern Irish , leaving 383,207 (94.598%) Welsh

In all elections or petitions there will be those with malign intent, but it seems the Senedd committee does require verification of e mails and I am sure they will provide detailed information on their petition in due course including those votes rejected by them

And to all those in England endorsing Wales action I look forward to them lobbying Starmer to implement the same policy in England

I just signed the petition, giving a fake Welsh postcode.

I signed it as "Dylan Thomas"

405,322 signatures
We’ve added your signature to the petition

Dead easy to fake it. Took me less than a minute.

So.

How many of the signatures are people demonstrating how easy it is to fake a signature?

I'd like to think the proportion of complete dickheads amongst the general population isn't that high.

Agreed, but 400k fake signatures doesn't need 400k dickheads. A much smaller number of determined dickheads can achieve much the same effect. Especially if you can automate email verification. Or you could outsource it for cash- maybe that's why we haven't had a visitor this morning.

It's the internet. Nobody knows if you are a dog- or even if you exist at all.

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I know this triggers some but our son called round and said that he has not met anyone, either at work or socially, that is supportive of the new 20mph zone and even Plaid supporters he works with are angry

The petition administered by the Senedd is now at an astonishing 403,000 votes and continues to grow

There will be some who are trying to debase the petition, but this has become the major story in Wales and hopefully common sense reviews by LA'S will take place

Wasn't there a header on PB recently showing there was more support than opposition.

There are always good reasons why someone might not meet people who admit to certain views. Could be there aren't many people with that view, or maybe the person is overbearing and people just don't want the argument. Or they only mix with people with certain views. Or they might just be lying.

Look to the polling. Or at least tell us your son's methodology.

https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/09/20/an-rw-welsh-poll-finds-backing-for-the-20mph-speed-limit/

On that poll it is qualified by where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists

I hope you are not inferring my son is misleading me but he works in IT in education and not one of his colleagues has a good word to say about the implementation, furthermore his friends and social contacts are the same

Ironically my son in law has just phoned and said he is not finding anyone in favour and remarked that one of the 20mph zones was 60mph not long ago

Over 400,000 signature on a Senedd petition is unprecedented and it will result in some changes to the new speed limits

I'm not inferring or even implying anything. I'm listing the reasons why anecdotes are worse than data.

Did we ever work out how many of these 400,000 signatures are actually people in Wales, and not just randos dialling it in from afar after having googled "Welsh postcodes"?

Again you are attempting to debase the petition

According to the Senedd petitions committee - 20,535 (5.069%) are English, 814 (0.201%) Scots, and 137 (0.034%) are Northern Irish , leaving 383,207 (94.598%) Welsh

In all elections or petitions there will be those with malign intent, but it seems the Senedd committee does require verification of e mails and I am sure they will provide detailed information on their petition in due course including those votes rejected by them

And to all those in England endorsing Wales action I look forward to them lobbying Starmer to implement the same policy in England

I just signed the petition, giving a fake Welsh postcode.

I signed it as "Dylan Thomas"

405,322 signatures
We’ve added your signature to the petition

Dead easy to fake it. Took me less than a minute.

Just adds to the numbers that will be published and will not as you hope debase is

Doesn't it prove to you that there's a bit of a flaw in the system?

No - because the numbers trying to debase the official Senedd petition will be small compared to the 400,000 plus already signed and it actually is self defeating as the petition keeps growing which is already in the stratosphere for Wales

Furthermore Drakeford is hardly going to address the Senedd and accuse it of being a fake petition

How do you know the numbers are small?

You can sign it from anywhere, and as long as you put a Welsh postcode in, it counts.

I presume you've signed it. How can they tell your genuine signature from my fake one? You're just assuming that most are genuine because that's the conclusion you want to see. I'm putting the evidence right in front of you that says you cannot trust this as being true. You have no idea how many fakes there are. No idea at all.

Frankly it is of no consequence as the public see the numbers, the media report the numbers, the Senedd petitions committee will confirm the numbers, and it will be debated and changes happen, most likely at LA level

It ought to be of consequence to you, and anyone who is truly concerned about the real popularity of this policy.

You're being shown that there are real doubts about something you believe, and you're demonstrating a fierce and determined lack of curiosity about it.

And you'll be back on here tomorrow saying "meh meh I know this will trigger some people but meh meh five billion signatures". And you'll go on pretending that you think it's real and that the people on here reading your post think it's real.

Anyone can see there are big problems with this. Anyone, apart from those who furiously want to not see it.

This is the counter to your comments

'We'll paint them quicker than they can replace them' threat to 20mph signs

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/well-paint-quicker-can-replace-27774353#ICID=Android_DailyPostNewsApp_AppShare

You support vandalism and the waste of public money, as well as endangering children and other members of the public? Well I never.

Carnyx said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I know this triggers some but our son called round and said that he has not met anyone, either at work or socially, that is supportive of the new 20mph zone and even Plaid supporters he works with are angry

The petition administered by the Senedd is now at an astonishing 403,000 votes and continues to grow

There will be some who are trying to debase the petition, but this has become the major story in Wales and hopefully common sense reviews by LA'S will take place

Wasn't there a header on PB recently showing there was more support than opposition.

There are always good reasons why someone might not meet people who admit to certain views. Could be there aren't many people with that view, or maybe the person is overbearing and people just don't want the argument. Or they only mix with people with certain views. Or they might just be lying.

Look to the polling. Or at least tell us your son's methodology.

https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/09/20/an-rw-welsh-poll-finds-backing-for-the-20mph-speed-limit/

On that poll it is qualified by where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists

I hope you are not inferring my son is misleading me but he works in IT in education and not one of his colleagues has a good word to say about the implementation, furthermore his friends and social contacts are the same

Ironically my son in law has just phoned and said he is not finding anyone in favour and remarked that one of the 20mph zones was 60mph not long ago

Over 400,000 signature on a Senedd petition is unprecedented and it will result in some changes to the new speed limits

I'm not inferring or even implying anything. I'm listing the reasons why anecdotes are worse than data.

Did we ever work out how many of these 400,000 signatures are actually people in Wales, and not just randos dialling it in from afar after having googled "Welsh postcodes"?

Again you are attempting to debase the petition

According to the Senedd petitions committee - 20,535 (5.069%) are English, 814 (0.201%) Scots, and 137 (0.034%) are Northern Irish , leaving 383,207 (94.598%) Welsh

In all elections or petitions there will be those with malign intent, but it seems the Senedd committee does require verification of e mails and I am sure they will provide detailed information on their petition in due course including those votes rejected by them

And to all those in England endorsing Wales action I look forward to them lobbying Starmer to implement the same policy in England

I just signed the petition, giving a fake Welsh postcode.

I signed it as "Dylan Thomas"

405,322 signatures
We’ve added your signature to the petition

Dead easy to fake it. Took me less than a minute.

Just adds to the numbers that will be published and will not as you hope debase is

Doesn't it prove to you that there's a bit of a flaw in the system?

No - because the numbers trying to debase the official Senedd petition will be small compared to the 400,000 plus already signed and it actually is self defeating as the petition keeps growing which is already in the stratosphere for Wales

Furthermore Drakeford is hardly going to address the Senedd and accuse it of being a fake petition

How do you know the numbers are small?

You can sign it from anywhere, and as long as you put a Welsh postcode in, it counts.

I presume you've signed it. How can they tell your genuine signature from my fake one? You're just assuming that most are genuine because that's the conclusion you want to see. I'm putting the evidence right in front of you that says you cannot trust this as being true. You have no idea how many fakes there are. No idea at all.

Frankly it is of no consequence as the public see the numbers, the media report the numbers, the Senedd petitions committee will confirm the numbers, and it will be debated and changes happen, most likely at LA level

It ought to be of consequence to you, and anyone who is truly concerned about the real popularity of this policy.

You're being shown that there are real doubts about something you believe, and you're demonstrating a fierce and determined lack of curiosity about it.

And you'll be back on here tomorrow saying "meh meh I know this will trigger some people but meh meh five billion signatures". And you'll go on pretending that you think it's real and that the people on here reading your post think it's real.

Anyone can see there are big problems with this. Anyone, apart from those who furiously want to not see it.

This is the counter to your comments

'We'll paint them quicker than they can replace them' threat to 20mph signs

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/well-paint-quicker-can-replace-27774353#ICID=Android_DailyPostNewsApp_AppShare

You support vandalism and the waste of public money, as well as endangering children and other members of the public? Well I never.

Endangering children by reverting back to the speed limit of one week ago?

MattW said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

darkage said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

I see that amongst the reforms Sunak has dropped, less publicised, has been the requirement for landlords to ensure their properties are C rated for energy efficiency at least.

This is absurd.

If you want to be a landlord your property should be of a decent standard and habitable. Expecting tenants to pay through the nose for energy because landlords can't be bothered to make homes habitable is utterly insane.

Shame on Sunak.

The 'EPC rating' has nothing to do with the quality of accommodation. It is a rating system for energy efficiency. The incoming requirement to achieve a set 'level' to let out properties out has been a major contributory factor in private landlords exiting the market. This has, in combination with other things, pushed up rents by hundreds of pounds a month across the entirety of UK because of a shortage of supply. The energy savings from the measures come at great cost (ie double glazing) and hassle, and probably save a few quid a month to tenants. Instead they are replacing it with what seems like a better system, incentivising the upgrades through grants.

Having to pay hundreds extra for gas and electricity each year because of poor quality draughty homes that don't have basic insulation is absolutely to do with the quality of accommodation.

As for any slumlords who leave the market because they don't want their homes to meet a minimum quality for their tenants - good riddance!

I'm with you on this one, Bart.

Crazy policy by Rishi. LMF.

They have a successful programme that has delivered major benefits over a long period, and he cans it in search of Schrodinger's Tory Voter.

As an accidental landlord my view is it is great that there is a programme pushing the rental sector towards much more energy efficiency.

But... government needs to meet half way over costs. Because they are not mandating owner-occupiers to do all this remedial work in their own homes so it seems a little unfair to say 'only landlords must do this'.

darkage said:

TimS said:

Malmesbury said:

darkage said:

AlsoLei said:

darkage said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

I see that amongst the reforms Sunak has dropped, less publicised, has been the requirement for landlords to ensure their properties are C rated for energy efficiency at least.

This is absurd.

If you want to be a landlord your property should be of a decent standard and habitable. Expecting tenants to pay through the nose for energy because landlords can't be bothered to make homes habitable is utterly insane.

Shame on Sunak.

The 'EPC rating' has nothing to do with the quality of accommodation. It is a rating system for energy efficiency. The incoming requirement to achieve a set 'level' to let out properties out has been a major contributory factor in private landlords exiting the market. This has, in combination with other things, pushed up rents by hundreds of pounds a month across the entirety of UK because of a shortage of supply. The energy savings from the measures come at great cost (ie double glazing) and hassle, and probably save a few quid a month to tenants. Instead they are replacing it with what seems like a better system, incentivising the upgrades through grants.

The savings are more than a few quid. My current place has an EPC score of 87 (a high 'B'), and my gas + electric bill is about £65/month. The unrefurbished but otherwise-identical flat next door has a score of 67 (so a 'D' rating), and has a projected primary energy use that's just over 2.1x mine. The only comparable E-rated place on my street uses 4.6x more energy per sq metre. That's a lot.

The regulations as they currently stand are about setting a reasonable floor, not enforcing best practice. They're intended to ratchet up at a steady pace (one grade every 8 years, is it?) that roughly fits with normal landlord refurbishment schedules.

When the grade E floor came in, it had a cost cap of £3,500 - if the necessary improvements cost more than that, then an exemption would be granted. And there were local authority grants and government-supported finance options available to fund it. Presumably something similar would have applied to the future steps of the ratchet.

I realise that EPCs are fairly crude with a number of potential edge cases like yours. But a more accurate system would likely cost much more to run, with much more intrusive inspections needed.

If the government is now proposing to incentivise improvements purely by providing grants, how are they going to be measuring the effect of the money they'll be spending? Presumably they'll still be using EPCs? Or are they proposing to just blindly piss money up the wall in the hope that some of it will flow somewhere useful?

Really, it's almost like they haven't thought this through at all.

It is hard to express how stupid these rules are for period properties.

The recommendations for my property are
1. internal or external wall insulation.
Comment. This would either destroy the appearance of the outside of the building or alternatively wreck all of its internal period features, ie the architraves and mouldings. notwithstanding the cost (£4000-£14000), for an estimated saving of £460 per year. (so about a third of the total heating bill... which I am highly sceptical of).

2. Double glazing
Comment. The property has handmade timber windows that date back to when it was built. There are a total of over 70 individual windows. The EPC recommends ripping all these out and replacing it with double glazing, ie factory made plastic windows which can only be regarded as an act of architectural vandalism. The 'typical yearly saving' of this would be, wait for it.... £41.

Double glazed sash and other repro windows exist. No plastic involved.

There are insulation options for period properties - internal - that while thinner and more expensive, do actually work.

Edit: if 70 windows are only leaking £41 worth of heat, then you should have them examined by experts. Those 70 windows are a revolution in insulation, just by themselves.

We are about a third of the way through replacing our leaky single glazed sashes with double glazed versions - all wooden box sashes, sash cords, the works. Just counting up I think we now have 9 double glazed out of 21 so closer to half, including 2 of the biggest ones.

I agree wall insulation is difficult. I regret we didn’t put some internal wall lining in when we reconfigured this place (it was an old derelict United services club so we had to reinstate much of the cornicing anyway, using a company that take moulds of originals).

I am considering doing the windows at the front but this is because there is a road noise issue, we are right next to a busy road. So it is really driven by noise issues rather than thermal insulation.
The windows at the rear already have secondary glazing which is what conservation officers always recommend instead of replacing windows. It is quite surprising this didn't have a more positive impact on the EPC.
I'm not sure about the idea of wall insulation - but appreciate you could essentially reconstruct some of the walls to be more insulated. It would be very expensive for limited benefit.
In our case the total cost of these works would at a conservative estimate be around £50k. They would never be recovered at the point of sale.

Carefully done done secondary glazing can be very unobtrusive.

In our family's listed small manor house (4 bed, 5000 sqft) we had a lot of original Georgian sash windows with some original glass.

For the windows that did not have to be replaced due to rottenness (place was empty for years when they bought it), we had a local glazier (local man who worked out of a shed) supply toughened panes of glass slightly smaller than the inside window opening, with polished edges. We then held these against the frame with a foam bead the frame side to cut draughts, and mirror hinges.

Depending on the window, we would either remove them in summer or leave them up all year round. With a remove and clean the inside-side every year or two.

Very unobtrusive, and they worked very well for the 20+ years we had them.

The way to do it is to do one, or one room, and see if it is effective. I'm sure you know that for sound insulation a wide air gap, but narrow enough to minimise convection currents, is key.

Hope you find your answer.

rottenborough said:

Stuartinromford said:

Casino_Royale said:

Stuartinromford said:

AlsoLei said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Rishi Sunak draws up plans to slash inheritance tax

Targeting ‘the most hated tax in Britain’ is just one of the crowd-pleasing policy changes in the mix for the Tory conference

Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to slash inheritance tax, which his officials have called “the most hated tax in Britain”.

Cutting the levy before eventually abolishing it entirely is one of a raft of crowd-pleasing announcements being considered before next month’s Conservative Party conference.

As part of his pledge to announce a series of long-term decisions designed to change Britain, Sunak would frame the policy as an “aspirational offer to voteFrs” ahead of the general election....

...Three sources confirmed that there is a live discussion at the highest level of government about reforming inheritance tax. One proposal being considered is for Sunak to announce his intention to phase out the levy by reducing the 40 per cent inheritance tax rate in the budget in March, while setting out a pathway to abolish it completely in future years.

This would tally with comments made last week by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, that there would be no tax cuts when he presents his latest plan at the end of November.

It would also make inheritance tax an election issue and put Sir Keir Starmer on the spot about whether he was prepared to make the same cuts in years to come.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-draws-up-plans-to-slash-inheritance-tax-2bqttmcg9

Fucking hell. It's only a day or two after they announced that there's not going to be room to reduce taxes given the current economic outlook. And now Sunak's changed his mind already. This government is swerving all over the place, doing at least two handbrake turns every day. Who can trust anything they say?

By the end of this conference season, he'll have announced that he's re-instating his meat tax, abolished it again, brought it back at double the rate, and committed to a consultation on a complex system of rebates based on the number of bins you have.

That's the key thing.

A lot of the response to this week's announcements has been a cynical weary shrug. Only the terminally loyal think that Sunak is doing it for good reasons. The default response is that it's pointless gimmickry.

This iteration of the Conservative party broke through the Trust Thermocline a while back. Possibly with late Johnson, maybe with Truss. Point is, the break is decisive, and Rishi can't pull them back into warmer waters. Major managed it after Maggie. And Johnson after May. But it's not easy.

Cameron was able to pull off his IHT cut because he was new and not actively distrusted. Sunak is. Labour won't need to say "multi millionaire cuts tax for rich people", because many voters will be thinking it anyway.

(Blog describing the Trust Thermocline here:

https://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/sarahlethbridgelean/trust-thermoclines/)

You're not the target audience.

IHT is very unpopular.

True. But not necessarily my point.

Imagine a couple. One of them starts buying desirable, but expensive, gifts for the other.

At a certain point in the decay of the relationship, the recipient doesn't think "what a lovely (if expensive) gesture". Instead they think "what are they guilty about?"

That's the Trust Thermocline. My contention is that the Conservatives passed that a while back, and even if they do or promise good things, they won't be credited for doing them.

See also: Major's government post autumn 1992.

What's the betting Reeves has a plan up her sleeves for if Rollercoaster Rishi announces IHT scrapped/curtailed?

CGT on all inheritances, as being capital transfers. And there would be a cast iron argument for that. Moreover, as the parental home would not be the residence ofd the transferee ...

AlsoLei said:

Andy_JS said:

Casino_Royale said:

Andy_JS said:

Casino_Royale said:

I've just read this (and watched a clip) and American Football sounds and looks as dull as dishwater:

https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/guest-blogs/360547/the-difference-between-rugby-and-the-american-football/#:~:text=The significant differences between the,23-player squad is used.

I found it to be unwatchable. Apparently Ted Heath was an enormous fan of the game.

Ted Heath?

Would never have made that link in a million years.

He was a European romantic and very cool to American culture.

"He was a great fan of American football, and rarely missed the Super Bowl."

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/jul/19/conservatives.houseofcommons

I'm slightly sceptical about that given that American football wasn't shown in the UK until Channel 4 broadcast the 1983 Super Bowl for the first time. And there was no satellite TV until a year or two after that.

Perhaps he had telecine recordings sent over, but that feels rather far-fetched...

Actually, American Football was shown for the first time in the 1970s on ITV. It featured multiple times on World of Sport. My brothers were more than familiar with the likes of Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach.

It wasn’t until Channel 4 launched that it gained a regular berth on a UK network (which is what everybody always cites as the ‘start’ of NFL coverage here).

Ironically, it was World of Sport covering ‘marginal’ sports (including Kabaddi) that convinced ministers to insist that Channel 4 should show sports that were not shown on mainstream channels.

rottenborough said:

MattW said:

Andy_JS said:

Dog owners need to be held responsible for attacks by their dogs in exactly the same way as they would be if they had personally attacked someone themselves.

They are already responsible, under the Dangerous Dogs Act Section 3. Though I am not sure if I would extend this to putting the owner down. And "be *held* responsible" is perhaps the issue.

(1)If a dog is dangerously out of control in [F1 any place [F2in England or Wales] (whether or not a public place)])—

(a)the owner; and
(b)if different, the person for the time being in charge of the dog, is guilty of an offence, or, if the dog while so out of control injures any person [F3or assistance dog], an aggravated offence, under this subsection.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/65/section/3

Viewing the pics from:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12552529/XL-Bully-owners-protest-London-against-Rishi-Sunaks-ban-beloved-pets-series-vicious-attacks-leave-dogs-home.html


I was suddenly reminded of Martin Amis's Lionel Asbo.

"Lionel Asbo is a "brutally generic" yob. He looks a bit like Wayne Rooney: "the slab-like body, the full lump of the face, the tight-shaved crown with its tawny stubble"." (guardian)

"Who let the dogs in?
…This, we fear, is going to be the question.
Who let the dogs in?

Who let the dogs in?
Who?
Who?"


Prescient as ever...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12544813/XL-Bully-dogs-banned-mass-protest-walk-gentle-breed-Birmingham-huge-backlash.html?ico=related-replace

Startled by the fact that the organisers have banned Fido and Rover from a march to argue how cuddlesome aforesaid dogs are.

Benpointer said:

MattW said:

darkage said:

TimS said:

Malmesbury said:

darkage said:

AlsoLei said:

darkage said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

I see that amongst the reforms Sunak has dropped, less publicised, has been the requirement for landlords to ensure their properties are C rated for energy efficiency at least.

This is absurd.

If you want to be a landlord your property should be of a decent standard and habitable. Expecting tenants to pay through the nose for energy because landlords can't be bothered to make homes habitable is utterly insane.

Shame on Sunak.

The 'EPC rating' has nothing to do with the quality of accommodation. It is a rating system for energy efficiency. The incoming requirement to achieve a set 'level' to let out properties out has been a major contributory factor in private landlords exiting the market. This has, in combination with other things, pushed up rents by hundreds of pounds a month across the entirety of UK because of a shortage of supply. The energy savings from the measures come at great cost (ie double glazing) and hassle, and probably save a few quid a month to tenants. Instead they are replacing it with what seems like a better system, incentivising the upgrades through grants.

The savings are more than a few quid. My current place has an EPC score of 87 (a high 'B'), and my gas + electric bill is about £65/month. The unrefurbished but otherwise-identical flat next door has a score of 67 (so a 'D' rating), and has a projected primary energy use that's just over 2.1x mine. The only comparable E-rated place on my street uses 4.6x more energy per sq metre. That's a lot.

The regulations as they currently stand are about setting a reasonable floor, not enforcing best practice. They're intended to ratchet up at a steady pace (one grade every 8 years, is it?) that roughly fits with normal landlord refurbishment schedules.

When the grade E floor came in, it had a cost cap of £3,500 - if the necessary improvements cost more than that, then an exemption would be granted. And there were local authority grants and government-supported finance options available to fund it. Presumably something similar would have applied to the future steps of the ratchet.

I realise that EPCs are fairly crude with a number of potential edge cases like yours. But a more accurate system would likely cost much more to run, with much more intrusive inspections needed.

If the government is now proposing to incentivise improvements purely by providing grants, how are they going to be measuring the effect of the money they'll be spending? Presumably they'll still be using EPCs? Or are they proposing to just blindly piss money up the wall in the hope that some of it will flow somewhere useful?

Really, it's almost like they haven't thought this through at all.

It is hard to express how stupid these rules are for period properties.

The recommendations for my property are
1. internal or external wall insulation.
Comment. This would either destroy the appearance of the outside of the building or alternatively wreck all of its internal period features, ie the architraves and mouldings. notwithstanding the cost (£4000-£14000), for an estimated saving of £460 per year. (so about a third of the total heating bill... which I am highly sceptical of).

2. Double glazing
Comment. The property has handmade timber windows that date back to when it was built. There are a total of over 70 individual windows. The EPC recommends ripping all these out and replacing it with double glazing, ie factory made plastic windows which can only be regarded as an act of architectural vandalism. The 'typical yearly saving' of this would be, wait for it.... £41.

Double glazed sash and other repro windows exist. No plastic involved.

There are insulation options for period properties - internal - that while thinner and more expensive, do actually work.

Edit: if 70 windows are only leaking £41 worth of heat, then you should have them examined by experts. Those 70 windows are a revolution in insulation, just by themselves.

We are about a third of the way through replacing our leaky single glazed sashes with double glazed versions - all wooden box sashes, sash cords, the works. Just counting up I think we now have 9 double glazed out of 21 so closer to half, including 2 of the biggest ones.

I agree wall insulation is difficult. I regret we didn’t put some internal wall lining in when we reconfigured this place (it was an old derelict United services club so we had to reinstate much of the cornicing anyway, using a company that take moulds of originals).

I am considering doing the windows at the front but this is because there is a road noise issue, we are right next to a busy road. So it is really driven by noise issues rather than thermal insulation.
The windows at the rear already have secondary glazing which is what conservation officers always recommend instead of replacing windows. It is quite surprising this didn't have a more positive impact on the EPC.
I'm not sure about the idea of wall insulation - but appreciate you could essentially reconstruct some of the walls to be more insulated. It would be very expensive for limited benefit.
In our case the total cost of these works would at a conservative estimate be around £50k. They would never be recovered at the point of sale.

Carefully done done secondary glazing can be very unobtrusive.

In our family's listed small manor house (4 bed, 5000 sqft) we had a lot of original Georgian sash windows with some original glass.

For the windows that did not have to be replaced due to rottenness (place was empty for years when they bought it), we had a local glazier (local man who worked out of a shed) supply toughened panes of glass slightly smaller than the inside window opening, with polished edges. We then held these against the frame with a foam bead the frame side to cut draughts, and mirror hinges.

Depending on the window, we would either remove them in summer or leave them up all year round. With a remove and clean the inside-side every year or two.

Very unobtrusive, and they worked very well for the 20+ years we had them.

The way to do it is to do one, or one room, and see if it is effective.

Hope you find your answer.

Blimey, 5000 sq ft and only 4 bedrooms?

You forgot the ballroom, game hanging room, estate office, etc. etc.

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Carnyx said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Farooq said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I know this triggers some but our son called round and said that he has not met anyone, either at work or socially, that is supportive of the new 20mph zone and even Plaid supporters he works with are angry

The petition administered by the Senedd is now at an astonishing 403,000 votes and continues to grow

There will be some who are trying to debase the petition, but this has become the major story in Wales and hopefully common sense reviews by LA'S will take place

Wasn't there a header on PB recently showing there was more support than opposition.

There are always good reasons why someone might not meet people who admit to certain views. Could be there aren't many people with that view, or maybe the person is overbearing and people just don't want the argument. Or they only mix with people with certain views. Or they might just be lying.

Look to the polling. Or at least tell us your son's methodology.

https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2023/09/20/an-rw-welsh-poll-finds-backing-for-the-20mph-speed-limit/

On that poll it is qualified by where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists

I hope you are not inferring my son is misleading me but he works in IT in education and not one of his colleagues has a good word to say about the implementation, furthermore his friends and social contacts are the same

Ironically my son in law has just phoned and said he is not finding anyone in favour and remarked that one of the 20mph zones was 60mph not long ago

Over 400,000 signature on a Senedd petition is unprecedented and it will result in some changes to the new speed limits

I'm not inferring or even implying anything. I'm listing the reasons why anecdotes are worse than data.

Did we ever work out how many of these 400,000 signatures are actually people in Wales, and not just randos dialling it in from afar after having googled "Welsh postcodes"?

Again you are attempting to debase the petition

According to the Senedd petitions committee - 20,535 (5.069%) are English, 814 (0.201%) Scots, and 137 (0.034%) are Northern Irish , leaving 383,207 (94.598%) Welsh

In all elections or petitions there will be those with malign intent, but it seems the Senedd committee does require verification of e mails and I am sure they will provide detailed information on their petition in due course including those votes rejected by them

And to all those in England endorsing Wales action I look forward to them lobbying Starmer to implement the same policy in England

I just signed the petition, giving a fake Welsh postcode.

I signed it as "Dylan Thomas"

405,322 signatures
We’ve added your signature to the petition

Dead easy to fake it. Took me less than a minute.

Just adds to the numbers that will be published and will not as you hope debase is

Doesn't it prove to you that there's a bit of a flaw in the system?

No - because the numbers trying to debase the official Senedd petition will be small compared to the 400,000 plus already signed and it actually is self defeating as the petition keeps growing which is already in the stratosphere for Wales

Furthermore Drakeford is hardly going to address the Senedd and accuse it of being a fake petition

How do you know the numbers are small?

You can sign it from anywhere, and as long as you put a Welsh postcode in, it counts.

I presume you've signed it. How can they tell your genuine signature from my fake one? You're just assuming that most are genuine because that's the conclusion you want to see. I'm putting the evidence right in front of you that says you cannot trust this as being true. You have no idea how many fakes there are. No idea at all.

Frankly it is of no consequence as the public see the numbers, the media report the numbers, the Senedd petitions committee will confirm the numbers, and it will be debated and changes happen, most likely at LA level

It ought to be of consequence to you, and anyone who is truly concerned about the real popularity of this policy.

You're being shown that there are real doubts about something you believe, and you're demonstrating a fierce and determined lack of curiosity about it.

And you'll be back on here tomorrow saying "meh meh I know this will trigger some people but meh meh five billion signatures". And you'll go on pretending that you think it's real and that the people on here reading your post think it's real.

Anyone can see there are big problems with this. Anyone, apart from those who furiously want to not see it.

This is the counter to your comments

'We'll paint them quicker than they can replace them' threat to 20mph signs

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/well-paint-quicker-can-replace-27774353#ICID=Android_DailyPostNewsApp_AppShare

You support vandalism and the waste of public money, as well as endangering children and other members of the public? Well I never.

I do no such thing and shame on you

I do not support vandalism but this is real and needs to be addresed

In its way that's quite funny.

The default speed limit is the only one that does not need any signs ! Hmmm - except at the edge of town?

20mph is the new default speed limit, so if you are driving on a residential road with no speed signage, you must assume that the limit is 20mph
https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/the-wales-20mph-speed-limit/

Carnyx said:

rottenborough said:

MattW said:

Andy_JS said:

Dog owners need to be held responsible for attacks by their dogs in exactly the same way as they would be if they had personally attacked someone themselves.

They are already responsible, under the Dangerous Dogs Act Section 3. Though I am not sure if I would extend this to putting the owner down. And "be *held* responsible" is perhaps the issue.

(1)If a dog is dangerously out of control in [F1 any place [F2in England or Wales] (whether or not a public place)])—

(a)the owner; and
(b)if different, the person for the time being in charge of the dog, is guilty of an offence, or, if the dog while so out of control injures any person [F3or assistance dog], an aggravated offence, under this subsection.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/65/section/3

Viewing the pics from:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12552529/XL-Bully-owners-protest-London-against-Rishi-Sunaks-ban-beloved-pets-series-vicious-attacks-leave-dogs-home.html


I was suddenly reminded of Martin Amis's Lionel Asbo.

"Lionel Asbo is a "brutally generic" yob. He looks a bit like Wayne Rooney: "the slab-like body, the full lump of the face, the tight-shaved crown with its tawny stubble"." (guardian)

"Who let the dogs in?
…This, we fear, is going to be the question.
Who let the dogs in?

Who let the dogs in?
Who?
Who?"


Prescient as ever...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12544813/XL-Bully-dogs-banned-mass-protest-walk-gentle-breed-Birmingham-huge-backlash.html?ico=related-replace

Startled by the fact that the organisers have banned Fido and Rover from a march to argue how cuddlesome aforesaid dogs are.

They've clarified according to Brum Mail:

However, in a second U-turn, he later told the BBC that XL Bullies under six-months-old would be free to be walked at the protest after all.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/police-aware-planned-mass-xl-27775093



LOL. The puppies are safe not sure about the adults!

Gardenwalker said:

Fred West is incredibly simian looking.
Is that what people look like in the Marches?

As Flanders and Swann put it

“And little and dark, more like monkey than man”