Is it still though the Tories will hold any seats? I mean, the LDs held 4 on even less of the vote, but it does require extreme clustering of the vote.
I think the Lib Dem vote is likely more efficient than the Conservative vote. Con on 11% is near wipeout territory. I've been predicting 2 seats for SCon which is very much on the bearish end. But 11% is below my expectations of vote share, so it might turn out that way.
How much is a Big Mac in Zurich? I do like Macdonalds though.
I meant I do like Macdonalds.
They're ok, but a nice warm tin of Campbells on a winter's night is to die for.
Tomato soup with cheese on toast on a cold night...
I like Campbell's Condensed Mushroom Soup (the only tinned mushroom soup that actually tastes of anything at this point) but it's a bugger to get around here. Whenever I see it in Tesco I buy six cans of it.
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
How much is a Big Mac in Zurich? I do like Macdonalds though.
I meant I do like Macdonalds.
They're ok, but a nice warm tin of Campbells on a winter's night is to die for.
Tomato soup with cheese on toast on a cold night...
I like Campbell's Condensed Mushroom Soup (the only tinned mushroom soup that actually tastes of anything at this point) but it's a bugger to get around here. Whenever I see it in Tesco I buy six cans of it.
ANME update: we've now had a leaflet from Reform. So that's all the main parties: Conservative, SNP, Lib Dem, and Reform. Still not a peep out of Labour.
Green?
No Green candidate here. Just the big 4 plus Labour.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
For what I see in England its those towns which were big enough to have major chain stores such as M&S, Boots, Debenhams that look tatty as they now have big empty blocks in prominent places.
Plus those people who previously had been attracted by the big shops now stop visiting entirely.
Towns at about 10k often seem to be doing better with redundant retail premises being converted into bars and restaurants.
How much is a Big Mac in Zurich? I do like Macdonalds though.
I meant I do like Macdonalds.
They're ok, but a nice warm tin of Campbells on a winter's night is to die for.
Tomato soup with cheese on toast on a cold night...
I like Campbell's Condensed Mushroom Soup (the only tinned mushroom soup that actually tastes of anything at this point) but it's a bugger to get around here. Whenever I see it in Tesco I buy six cans of it.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
I believe the internet in provincial France has not shut down retail to the same extent as it has here.
I believe the French have some laws that protect small book stores for example. Laws that would never be passed in the UK.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
I believe the internet in provincial France has not shut down retail to the same extent as it has here.
I believe the French have some laws that protect small book stores for example. Laws that would never be passed in the UK.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
That’s interesting - merci
I do wonder if Brittany is doing exceptionally well, even within France. It all seems so kempt and clean and affluent, even the grotty bits would be nice bits - sadly - inmany parts of the UK
I’ve now been all over it for three weeks - driving in, through and around, the most rundown town I’ve seen is Douarnanez which is still rather attractive and about as nice as, say, Truro. Towns like Vannes, Dinan or Pont Aven ooze opulence. Someone downthread says my comparison twixt Taunton and Le Conquet is unfair because size, well then take Quimper, it has almost the exact same population as Taunton - circa 60,000 - and Quimper is thriving and I saw no empty shops
Tourism is pulling in vast amounts of money, I sense, and a lot of wealthy Parisians are moving here full time or buying second homes
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
For what I see in England its those towns which were big enough to have major chain stores such as M&S, Boots, Debenhams that look tatty as they now have big empty blocks in prominent places.
Plus those people who previously had been attracted by the big shops now stop visiting entirely.
Towns at about 10k often seem to be doing better with redundant retail premises being converted into bars and restaurants.
Bars and restaurants provide a level of hospitality you don't get off the internet. Ordering off just-eat or deliveroo is not the same to going out.
Town centre shops are history. A few niche ones can be good, typically in out of town retail parks, but they're not a sensible use of town retail estate.
Why drive into a town centre to get to a shop, when you can get to a much more convenient out of town one, or get it delivered?
Plus if you believe in public transport, I'd rather leave my car at home and get a taxi because I'm going into town to have a few drinks, than because I'm going shopping and will want my boot to put the shopping into.
“Many relocating high-net-worth individuals (around 20%) are entrepreneurs and company founders, who often start businesses in their new country and therefore create local jobs. This percentage rises to over 60% for centi-millionaires and billionaires.”
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
For what I see in England its those towns which were big enough to have major chain stores such as M&S, Boots, Debenhams that look tatty as they now have big empty blocks in prominent places.
Plus those people who previously had been attracted by the big shops now stop visiting entirely.
Towns at about 10k often seem to be doing better with redundant retail premises being converted into bars and restaurants.
Princes Street in Edinburgh looks dire, but that's mostly due to a unique combination of awful 1970s city planning, awful 1980s city planning, awful 1990s city planning, George St and the St James Centre hoovering up all the prestige stores and the pandemic. It's getting a little better since Uniqlo opened up but as an advertisement for an extremely wealthy city it's bloody awful.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
More like they insist on having fresh bread and fresh fish and so on in local shops, not driving 8 miles from Accrington to some Tesidlda giant supermarket?
Sounds like a retrograde 1950s hellscape.
I suppose they want to live like its a Little House on the Prairie next.
Getting fresh produce, fish, bread, meat or anything else all under the same roof with the same car park, or even better delivered to you, is so much more convenient than dicking around with half a dozen tiny stores.
Another problem with the 50s nostalgia of walking along the local High Street with a wicker basket visiting Mr Bun the baker, Mr Sole the fishmonger, Mr Bones the butcher etc is that these shops are shut by 5pm when people start leaving work.
Whereas supermarkets are open all hours and are fully stocked.
Since WFH I've made much more use of my local butcher. Supermarket bacon is crap, and supermarket sausages went weirdly downhill two years ago. But my local greengrocer - while it looks good on the street, and I'm happy to have it - is about three times the price of the supermarkets. And it's better quality, but not MUCH better quality.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
For what I see in England its those towns which were big enough to have major chain stores such as M&S, Boots, Debenhams that look tatty as they now have big empty blocks in prominent places.
Plus those people who previously had been attracted by the big shops now stop visiting entirely.
Towns at about 10k often seem to be doing better with redundant retail premises being converted into bars and restaurants.
Nearest local ‘big town’ ….. Braintree …. has an ‘out of town’ centre, Braintree Village which appears to have decimated the traditional town centre.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
That’s interesting - merci
I do wonder if Brittany is doing exceptionally well, even within France. It all seems so kempt and clean and affluent, even the grotty bits would be nice bits - sadly - inmany parts of the UK
I’ve now been all over it for three weeks - driving in, through and around, the most rundown town I’ve seen is Douarnanez which is still rather attractive and about as nice as, say, Truro. Towns like Vannes, Dinan or Pont Aven ooze opulence. Someone downthread says my comparison twixt Taunton and Le Conquet is unfair because size, well then take Quimper, it has almost the exact same population as Taunton - circa 60,000 - and Quimper is thriving and I saw no empty shops
Tourism is pulling in vast amounts of money, I sense, and a lot of wealthy Parisians are moving here full time or buying second homes
I wonder if climate change and a series of intolerably hot summers in the Midi have been a boon to the West coast.
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
For what I see in England its those towns which were big enough to have major chain stores such as M&S, Boots, Debenhams that look tatty as they now have big empty blocks in prominent places.
Plus those people who previously had been attracted by the big shops now stop visiting entirely.
Towns at about 10k often seem to be doing better with redundant retail premises being converted into bars and restaurants.
Nearest local ‘big town’ ….. Braintree …. has an ‘out of town’ centre, Braintree Village which appears to have decimated the traditional town centre.
What's wrong with that?
Good competition should be allowed to thrive and let people choose of their own free will.
I'd rather drive to an out of town shopping centre like the Trafford Centre, than an inner city or town one like Liverpool One.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
That’s interesting - merci
I do wonder if Brittany is doing exceptionally well, even within France. It all seems so kempt and clean and affluent, even the grotty bits would be nice bits - sadly - inmany parts of the UK
I’ve now been all over it for three weeks - driving in, through and around, the most rundown town I’ve seen is Douarnanez which is still rather attractive and about as nice as, say, Truro. Towns like Vannes, Dinan or Pont Aven ooze opulence. Someone downthread says my comparison twixt Taunton and Le Conquet is unfair because size, well then take Quimper, it has almost the exact same population as Taunton - circa 60,000 - and Quimper is thriving and I saw no empty shops
Tourism is pulling in vast amounts of money, I sense, and a lot of wealthy Parisians are moving here full time or buying second homes
I wonder if climate change and a series of intolerably hot summers in the Midi have been a boon to the West coast.
i discussed exactly that with a Breton hotelier this week! - and her answer is Oui
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
That’s interesting - merci
I do wonder if Brittany is doing exceptionally well, even within France. It all seems so kempt and clean and affluent, even the grotty bits would be nice bits - sadly - inmany parts of the UK
I’ve now been all over it for three weeks - driving in, through and around, the most rundown town I’ve seen is Douarnanez which is still rather attractive and about as nice as, say, Truro. Towns like Vannes, Dinan or Pont Aven ooze opulence. Someone downthread says my comparison twixt Taunton and Le Conquet is unfair because size, well then take Quimper, it has almost the exact same population as Taunton - circa 60,000 - and Quimper is thriving and I saw no empty shops
Tourism is pulling in vast amounts of money, I sense, and a lot of wealthy Parisians are moving here full time or buying second homes
I wonder if climate change and a series of intolerably hot summers in the Midi have been a boon to the West coast.
The weather has been excellent, if sappingly humid, in Brittany and Normandy the last few days. People were sunbathing on Utah beach when I was wandering along there the other day.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
That’s interesting - merci
I do wonder if Brittany is doing exceptionally well, even within France. It all seems so kempt and clean and affluent, even the grotty bits would be nice bits - sadly - inmany parts of the UK
I’ve now been all over it for three weeks - driving in, through and around, the most rundown town I’ve seen is Douarnanez which is still rather attractive and about as nice as, say, Truro. Towns like Vannes, Dinan or Pont Aven ooze opulence. Someone downthread says my comparison twixt Taunton and Le Conquet is unfair because size, well then take Quimper, it has almost the exact same population as Taunton - circa 60,000 - and Quimper is thriving and I saw no empty shops
Tourism is pulling in vast amounts of money, I sense, and a lot of wealthy Parisians are moving here full time or buying second homes
I wonder if climate change and a series of intolerably hot summers in the Midi have been a boon to the West coast.
i discussed exactly that with a Breton hotelier this week! - and her answer is Oui
Even without climate change, I much prefer the west coast of France to the south. The south was always pretty stifling. And a beach is not a real beach without a tide.
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
There is no shortage of skilled tradies in this country who could be building homes if they were easily able to do so without planning restrictions.
It's actually all in ANME and Rochdale will therefore be returned as the entirety of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, with a 657% vote share and a majority of 296,341. Easily surpassing Dunny-on-the-Wold as the safest seat in the Commons. Not what the party ideally wanted, but quality over quantity at least.
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
There is no shortage of skilled tradies in this country who could be building homes if they were easily able to do so without planning restrictions.
Sorry but there is, firms are poaching workers off each other because they can't get enough for example brickies and yes because we don't train enough
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
What is needed is to find ways of helping those who contribute less than average to contribute more.
Not to punish those who work hard and save and contribute more than average.
If you do the latter people will spend more earlier, look for other ways to save and then retire earlier.
As these people will be the highest skilled and highest earning then having them retire earlier is very damaging economically.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
That’s interesting - merci
I do wonder if Brittany is doing exceptionally well, even within France. It all seems so kempt and clean and affluent, even the grotty bits would be nice bits - sadly - inmany parts of the UK
I’ve now been all over it for three weeks - driving in, through and around, the most rundown town I’ve seen is Douarnanez which is still rather attractive and about as nice as, say, Truro. Towns like Vannes, Dinan or Pont Aven ooze opulence. Someone downthread says my comparison twixt Taunton and Le Conquet is unfair because size, well then take Quimper, it has almost the exact same population as Taunton - circa 60,000 - and Quimper is thriving and I saw no empty shops
Tourism is pulling in vast amounts of money, I sense, and a lot of wealthy Parisians are moving here full time or buying second homes
I wonder if climate change and a series of intolerably hot summers in the Midi have been a boon to the West coast.
i discussed exactly that with a Breton hotelier this week! - and her answer is Oui
Even without climate change, I much prefer the west coast of France to the south. The south was always pretty stifling. And a beach is not a real beach without a tide.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
That’s interesting - merci
I do wonder if Brittany is doing exceptionally well, even within France. It all seems so kempt and clean and affluent, even the grotty bits would be nice bits - sadly - inmany parts of the UK
I’ve now been all over it for three weeks - driving in, through and around, the most rundown town I’ve seen is Douarnanez which is still rather attractive and about as nice as, say, Truro. Towns like Vannes, Dinan or Pont Aven ooze opulence. Someone downthread says my comparison twixt Taunton and Le Conquet is unfair because size, well then take Quimper, it has almost the exact same population as Taunton - circa 60,000 - and Quimper is thriving and I saw no empty shops
Tourism is pulling in vast amounts of money, I sense, and a lot of wealthy Parisians are moving here full time or buying second homes
I wonder if climate change and a series of intolerably hot summers in the Midi have been a boon to the West coast.
i discussed exactly that with a Breton hotelier this week! - and her answer is Oui
Even without climate change, I much prefer the west coast of France to the south. The south was always pretty stifling. And a beach is not a real beach without a tide.
West is the best.
Get here and we'll do the rest. The blue bus is calling us.
8% for reform is quite high in Scotland. I don't think they will get that much on the day in Scotland.
With the Lib Dems up that high, then seats in the Highlands and in Aberdeenshire are in play.
Inverness might be interesting and Jamie Stone will win Caithness/Sutherland handily. Aberdeenshire? No. Possibly an uptick but unionists will stick mostly with Tories to keep out SNP.
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
There is no shortage of skilled tradies in this country who could be building homes if they were easily able to do so without planning restrictions.
Sorry but there is, firms are poaching workers off each other because they can't get enough for example brickies and yes because we don't train enough
Firms poaching off each other is the free market in action.
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
There is no shortage of skilled tradies in this country who could be building homes if they were easily able to do so without planning restrictions.
Sorry but there is, firms are poaching workers off each other because they can't get enough for example brickies and yes because we don't train enough
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
There is no shortage of skilled tradies in this country who could be building homes if they were easily able to do so without planning restrictions.
Sorry but there is, firms are poaching workers off each other because they can't get enough for example brickies and yes because we don't train enough
Firms poaching off each other is the free market in action.
Nobody has a divine right to minimum wage labour.
Maybe the builders can hire more apprentices, instead of complaining about a lack of skilled workers or asking government for more immigrants.
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
There is no shortage of skilled tradies in this country who could be building homes if they were easily able to do so without planning restrictions.
Sorry but there is, firms are poaching workers off each other because they can't get enough for example brickies and yes because we don't train enough
More training and apprenticeships needed!
Save me from the crafty cocknie rip off stressed out builders!
Be Brave Vote Dave is the Lib Dem message. I delivered three boxes with about seven thousand BBVD cards in them to Dave this morning for his last push, letterbox-wise
He's also recorded a BBVD song (the video is below the lyrics)
It's silly but fun. He tells me there's more to come
I've continued to do my best to talk him up whenever I've managed to steer conversations to the election. It's not been that difficult when I've been handing people a pile of election propaganda
I've been quite impressed by the number who have met Dave already and plan to vote for him, and those who haven't met him but have heard about him and plan to vote for him
I've also talked to a load of people who just want Kruger/Tories out, but don't know who to vote for. I then tell them why I'm voting for Dave (lovely guy, lives in town, cares about constituency etc.)
I promise them that if Dave does get elected, I'll run a free postal service to his house from his constituents on my route. I told Dave, he seemed pleased
I'll be astonished if Kruger does lose the seat, but it's not impossible any more. I'm a bit worried that MRP polls and tactical vote websites might split a potentially seismic result
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
That’s interesting - merci
I do wonder if Brittany is doing exceptionally well, even within France. It all seems so kempt and clean and affluent, even the grotty bits would be nice bits - sadly - inmany parts of the UK
I’ve now been all over it for three weeks - driving in, through and around, the most rundown town I’ve seen is Douarnanez which is still rather attractive and about as nice as, say, Truro. Towns like Vannes, Dinan or Pont Aven ooze opulence. Someone downthread says my comparison twixt Taunton and Le Conquet is unfair because size, well then take Quimper, it has almost the exact same population as Taunton - circa 60,000 - and Quimper is thriving and I saw no empty shops
Tourism is pulling in vast amounts of money, I sense, and a lot of wealthy Parisians are moving here full time or buying second homes
I wonder if climate change and a series of intolerably hot summers in the Midi have been a boon to the West coast.
i discussed exactly that with a Breton hotelier this week! - and her answer is Oui
Even without climate change, I much prefer the west coast of France to the south. The south was always pretty stifling. And a beach is not a real beach without a tide.
West is the best.
Get here and we'll do the rest. The blue bus is calling us.
Obesity is also an issue for Brits. If you’re a fat lazy twat, and many of us are, then you can’t be bothered walking into town waddling under your own weight, you get it all delivered or jump in your car, like the super-obese Americans. Thus you get even fatter and even less inclined to walk and so on and so forth
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
What is needed is to find ways of helping those who contribute less than average to contribute more.
Not to punish those who work hard and save and contribute more than average.
If you do the latter people will spend more earlier, look for other ways to save and then retire earlier.
As these people will be the highest skilled and highest earning then having them retire earlier is very damaging economically.
Who talked about punishing them, simple fact is we need tax from somewhere, if they retire early they still pay ni on the pension, they still get the clawback, they still get the lifetime healthcap
You are never going to bring those that contribute less to contribute more because they are the majority and at the ballot box will say fuck off. That was my point about we are now at over 50% putting in less than they take out
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
There is no shortage of skilled tradies in this country who could be building homes if they were easily able to do so without planning restrictions.
Sorry but there is, firms are poaching workers off each other because they can't get enough for example brickies and yes because we don't train enough
Firms poaching off each other is the free market in action.
Nobody has a divine right to minimum wage labour.
Maybe the builders can hire more apprentices, instead of complaining about a lack of skilled workers or asking government for more immigrants.
Just Googled bricklaying apprenticeships and I see some being advertised . . . with a wage of £5.28 per hour.
My sympathies for those who can't find employees at £5.28 per hour.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
For what I see in England its those towns which were big enough to have major chain stores such as M&S, Boots, Debenhams that look tatty as they now have big empty blocks in prominent places.
Plus those people who previously had been attracted by the big shops now stop visiting entirely.
Towns at about 10k often seem to be doing better with redundant retail premises being converted into bars and restaurants.
Nearest local ‘big town’ ….. Braintree …. has an ‘out of town’ centre, Braintree Village which appears to have decimated the traditional town centre.
What's wrong with that?
Good competition should be allowed to thrive and let people choose of their own free will.
I'd rather drive to an out of town shopping centre like the Trafford Centre, than an inner city or town one like Liverpool One.
Obviously being a) a red blooded male, and b) middle class and urban I feel duty bound to hate the Trafford Centre. And I do. But because it is less than ten minutes drive from me I've been there a lot. And it's worth pointing out that they do a lot of things very well. It's not just about parking. What I would say the Trafford Centre has going for it is that it is walkable - and also clean, well-maintained, free of litter and graffiti, busy, safe, well lit... It has few of the positives of a good quality town centre (like charm), but absolutely none of the negatives. People don't choose the Trafford Centre out of some indolent desire to minimise steps walked. Shoppers at the TC walk miles. But it doesn't feel difficult to do because walking is made so pleasant. Even the car parks are clean and tidy and not unpleasant.
Town planners could learn a lot from the success of the Trafford Centre. I don't want to turn Manchester City Centre into a replica of the Trafford Centre - but I would very much like it to be as clean, neat, safe and free of nutters.
Obesity is also an issue for Brits. If you’re a fat lazy twat, and many of us are, then you can’t be bothered walking into town waddling under your own weight, you get it all delivered or jump in your car, like the super-obese Americans. Thus you get even fatter and even less inclined to walk and so on and so forth
Isn't obesity becoming more of a thing in France these days?
To return to last night's discussion about tied groups and tiebreakers. The final first round group of snooker's Championship League has just ended in a four way tie. All six games ended two frames each. Tie breaker is highest break.
Obesity is also an issue for Brits. If you’re a fat lazy twat, and many of us are, then you can’t be bothered walking into town waddling under your own weight, you get it all delivered or jump in your car, like the super-obese Americans. Thus you get even fatter and even less inclined to walk and so on and so forth
Isn't obesity becoming more of a thing in France these days?
An Anerican Import. Sedentary lifestyle for some and too many readymade supermarket meals and takeaway poison.
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
What is needed is to find ways of helping those who contribute less than average to contribute more.
Not to punish those who work hard and save and contribute more than average.
If you do the latter people will spend more earlier, look for other ways to save and then retire earlier.
As these people will be the highest skilled and highest earning then having them retire earlier is very damaging economically.
Precisely why we need to be cutting taxes on PAYE and working, and increasing taxes commensurately on pensioners and other unearned incomes instead.
Those who are working for their income should never pay more in tax than those who are not working for it.
Obesity is also an issue for Brits. If you’re a fat lazy twat, and many of us are, then you can’t be bothered walking into town waddling under your own weight, you get it all delivered or jump in your car, like the super-obese Americans. Thus you get even fatter and even less inclined to walk and so on and so forth
Isn't obesity becoming more of a thing in France these days?
An Anerican Import. Sedentary lifestyle for some and too many readymade supermarket meals and takeaway poison.
The debate about tatty Taunton and hollowed out British market towns occurred as I was walking around Le Conquet in north Finistere. ANOTHER beautiful French town with a thriving centre and not an empty shop to be seen
So this is in some ways a British thing. Or don’t the French use the internet?
It’s happened in rural France too but in a slightly different way more redolent of Counties like Kent and Sussex.
One settlement in an area - usually either the prettiest or most accessible - becomes a hub with the restaurants, decent shops and weekly market. These towns do much better than most of their English counterparts. The other similarly sized settlements in the immediate area get hollowed out and become dormitories with one or two bar-Tabacs and a proximarche.
So around us Cluny and Cormatin - which are both pretty and well connected - get the market, the festivals, the restaurants and boutiques, and the tourists. Others like St Gengoux, St Bonnet de Joux, Salornay-sur-Guye make do with one of two shops (though Salornay does have a decent boulangerie a pizzeria).
That’s interesting - merci
I do wonder if Brittany is doing exceptionally well, even within France. It all seems so kempt and clean and affluent, even the grotty bits would be nice bits - sadly - inmany parts of the UK
I’ve now been all over it for three weeks - driving in, through and around, the most rundown town I’ve seen is Douarnanez which is still rather attractive and about as nice as, say, Truro. Towns like Vannes, Dinan or Pont Aven ooze opulence. Someone downthread says my comparison twixt Taunton and Le Conquet is unfair because size, well then take Quimper, it has almost the exact same population as Taunton - circa 60,000 - and Quimper is thriving and I saw no empty shops
Tourism is pulling in vast amounts of money, I sense, and a lot of wealthy Parisians are moving here full time or buying second homes
Perhaps its rich Parisians you're seeing in Brittany rather than actual Bretons.
Brittany might be the French equivalent of Cornwall.
Nice for tourists but not so nice for locals who want to buy a house.
What are the house prices and wages there ?
You need top stop looking at churches and instead look in employment and estate agency's windows.
I am not getting a lot of joy out of this election but the thing I find most irritating is the number of muppets minded to vote for Reform and, indirectly, 10 years of socialist government. There have been suggestions for a while that IQs are falling but this is a jump off a tall bridge.
You begin to wonder if democracy is just too hard for some people.
Question - what is the difference between "socialist government" and the Conservatives?
Punative taxes to record levels? Tick Wasting billions on crap public services? Tick Open door migration letting anyone in? Tick Nanny state nonsense about what we eat and smoke? Tick
People don't fear "socialist government" or any of the idiotic threats Sunak and the press team are making, because we live that every day already.
The Overton window is so narrow there is almost nothing substantive to discuss. Once you have a welfare state, free state education, NHS, industrial policy, consumer protection, regulation about everything, and a few other things a social democrat state with highly regulated capitalism is the only option. State managed expenditure has increased every year and this will continue. It is unavoidable.
The left have one further option - this + socialist state control of all commerce too. No serious right wing option has emerged with a working model in Europe yet. This is one of the most remarkable and underestimated facts of political policy. The Conservative party's two biggest fails since the war are: Lack of European statecraft, leading to the disaster of Brexit; and the failure to practice conservatism in any respects at all.
Not something I advocate by any means just an observation on all governements of the past
Wars used to cull the poor, now we no longer really have mass casualty wars its a new problem for governements of all stripes to have a burgeoning underclass and they have no idea how to deal with it
More broadly we have a terrible problem with dependency, chiefly due to a combination of low paid employment and ridiculous housing costs (meaning that many working people end up reliant on social security) and vast numbers of pensioners. The situation is theoretically recoverable, but some of the measures required - especially millions of houses and attendant infrastructure, and requiring people to work until 70 or possibly slightly beyond that - are so unpopular that they'll probably never get done. I'll certainly be surprised in a good way of Labour manages to meet its building commitments, and astonished if the houses are decent rather than shoddily constructed little identikit rabbit hutches marooned amidst acres of car parking.
Labour won't meet those targets even if it is their deepest desire, simple fact is there aren't enough construction workers nor the supply of building materials. The problem is exacerbated by the fact we are over the 50% mark for people who take more from the state than they give. For those people voting for more is a no brainer.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards . However I do believe there should be a safety net, free education to 18 and a health service which is free at point of use.
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
There is no shortage of skilled tradies in this country who could be building homes if they were easily able to do so without planning restrictions.
Sorry but there is, firms are poaching workers off each other because they can't get enough for example brickies and yes because we don't train enough
Firms poaching off each other is the free market in action.
Nobody has a divine right to minimum wage labour.
Maybe the builders can hire more apprentices, instead of complaining about a lack of skilled workers or asking government for more immigrants.
Just Googled bricklaying apprenticeships and I see some being advertised . . . with a wage of £5.28 per hour.
My sympathies for those who can't find employees at £5.28 per hour.
Presumably they’re looking for 16-year-olds with no bricklaying skills, in which case that’s not too bad. But after a couple of years, they’ll be getting £15-£20 as bricklayers?
8% for reform is quite high in Scotland. I don't think they will get that much on the day in Scotland.
With the Lib Dems up that high, then seats in the Highlands and in Aberdeenshire are in play.
Inverness might be interesting and Jamie Stone will win Caithness/Sutherland handily. Aberdeenshire? No. Possibly an uptick but unionists will stick mostly with Tories to keep out SNP.
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine is worth a second look. The Nats are not well placed against Bowie, and the Lib Dems have been working the seat quite hard.
Obesity is also an issue for Brits. If you’re a fat lazy twat, and many of us are, then you can’t be bothered walking into town waddling under your own weight, you get it all delivered or jump in your car, like the super-obese Americans. Thus you get even fatter and even less inclined to walk and so on and so forth
We need a minister and ministry of walking. Including silly walks
Comments
Hope you got on.
Personally I'd perhaps add crumbled black pudding for extra depth.
https://x.com/legsidelizzy/status/1806408129166311915
Plus those people who previously had been attracted by the big shops now stop visiting entirely.
Towns at about 10k often seem to be doing better with redundant retail premises being converted into bars and restaurants.
I do wonder if Brittany is doing exceptionally well, even within France. It all seems so kempt and clean and affluent, even the grotty bits would be nice bits - sadly - inmany parts of the UK
I’ve now been all over it for three weeks - driving in, through and around, the most rundown town I’ve seen is Douarnanez which is still rather attractive and about as nice as, say, Truro. Towns like Vannes, Dinan or Pont Aven ooze opulence. Someone downthread says my comparison twixt Taunton and Le Conquet is unfair because size, well then take Quimper, it has almost the exact same population as Taunton - circa 60,000 - and Quimper is thriving and I saw no empty shops
Tourism is pulling in vast amounts of money, I sense, and a lot of wealthy Parisians are moving here full time or buying second homes
Town centre shops are history. A few niche ones can be good, typically in out of town retail parks, but they're not a sensible use of town retail estate.
Why drive into a town centre to get to a shop, when you can get to a much more convenient out of town one, or get it delivered?
Plus if you believe in public transport, I'd rather leave my car at home and get a taxi because I'm going into town to have a few drinks, than because I'm going shopping and will want my boot to put the shopping into.
https://www.standard.co.uk/business/millionaires-leave-uk-rich-high-net-worth-china-dubai-uae-florida-usa-dubai-henley-b1165154.html
But my local greengrocer - while it looks good on the street, and I'm happy to have it - is about three times the price of the supermarkets. And it's better quality, but not MUCH better quality.
So England decided yet again to field first and lose.
As many might have noted I tend rightwards
I also believe though that the state does too much and we should trim back what we do. I would rather the state did less but funded it properly than it tries to do too much and half arses everything.
For starters I would do a clawback on state pensions, every 5£ over say 5k private pension should mean 1£ off your state pension
NI on pensions
A lifetime health care costs cap with an insurance based top off
As examples
Good competition should be allowed to thrive and let people choose of their own free will.
I'd rather drive to an out of town shopping centre like the Trafford Centre, than an inner city or town one like Liverpool One.
They can't find the box and could never put a cross into it.
Ah, my coat!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmkMpYbOoO0
and yes because we don't train enough
Not to punish those who work hard and save and contribute more than average.
If you do the latter people will spend more earlier, look for other ways to save and then retire earlier.
As these people will be the highest skilled and highest earning then having them retire earlier is very damaging economically.
I'm not staying up for that. I will be staying up next Thursday.
The blue bus is calling us.
Nobody has a divine right to minimum wage labour.
Be Brave Vote Dave is the Lib Dem message. I delivered three boxes with about seven thousand BBVD cards in them to Dave this morning for his last push, letterbox-wise
He's also recorded a BBVD song (the video is below the lyrics)
https://votedave.org.uk/
It's silly but fun. He tells me there's more to come
I've continued to do my best to talk him up whenever I've managed to steer conversations to the election. It's not been that difficult when I've been handing people a pile of election propaganda
I've been quite impressed by the number who have met Dave already and plan to vote for him, and those who haven't met him but have heard about him and plan to vote for him
I've also talked to a load of people who just want Kruger/Tories out, but don't know who to vote for. I then tell them why I'm voting for Dave (lovely guy, lives in town, cares about constituency etc.)
I promise them that if Dave does get elected, I'll run a free postal service to his house from his constituents on my route. I told Dave, he seemed pleased
I'll be astonished if Kruger does lose the seat, but it's not impossible any more. I'm a bit worried that MRP polls and tactical vote websites might split a potentially seismic result
Be Brave, vote Dave
You are never going to bring those that contribute less to contribute more because they are the majority and at the ballot box will say fuck off. That was my point about we are now at over 50% putting in less than they take out
My sympathies for those who can't find employees at £5.28 per hour.
Thought not
And I do.
But because it is less than ten minutes drive from me I've been there a lot.
And it's worth pointing out that they do a lot of things very well.
It's not just about parking. What I would say the Trafford Centre has going for it is that it is walkable - and also clean, well-maintained, free of litter and graffiti, busy, safe, well lit... It has few of the positives of a good quality town centre (like charm), but absolutely none of the negatives.
People don't choose the Trafford Centre out of some indolent desire to minimise steps walked. Shoppers at the TC walk miles. But it doesn't feel difficult to do because walking is made so pleasant. Even the car parks are clean and tidy and not unpleasant.
Town planners could learn a lot from the success of the Trafford Centre. I don't want to turn Manchester City Centre into a replica of the Trafford Centre - but I would very much like it to be as clean, neat, safe and free of nutters.
NEW
Rishi Sunak has accused Nigel Farage of “appeasing” Vladimir Putin with his comments about the Ukraine invasion
PM draws a parallel between Farage and those who wanted softer approach to Nazis in 1930s. Says it hurts UK security
The Prime Minister has largely avoided fierce direct criticism of the Reform leader, with polls suggesting some Tory voters are drifting to them
But with a week left and the Tories hardening rhetoric to squeeze wavering voters the PM has gone in hard on Farage and Russia…
https://x.com/benrileysmith/status/1806413346624651687
Some of the pollsters like YG changed their model R&W and a couple of others stuck to the no adjustment model.
Not long to find out who was right
https://twitter.com/patrickjfl/status/1795416143521255429?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1795417208224416164|twgr^c31937e90e732cf5662c3c5df2232730af488e25|twcon^s2_&ref_url=https://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2024/05/28/bookmark-this-post-and-these-tweets/
The final first round group of snooker's Championship League has just ended in a four way tie.
All six games ended two frames each.
Tie breaker is highest break.
Those who are working for their income should never pay more in tax than those who are not working for it.
Brittany might be the French equivalent of Cornwall.
Nice for tourists but not so nice for locals who want to buy a house.
What are the house prices and wages there ?
You need top stop looking at churches and instead look in employment and estate agency's windows.