Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
Then start betting on Mr Streeting.
Can Labour REALLY appoint another male leader?
I mean - really???
I think very unlikely to be Streeting.
If Starmer quits then Reeves is toast too.
Rayner has the position and ambition, as well as enough left wing rhetoric to get the juices flowing.
Philipson and Cooper also good bets. Cooper is doing well at the Home Office, ramping up deportations to levels not seen under any of the last 3 Tory PMs.
Streeting really does make me feel uneasy. In a vague of 'Arthur Daley' version of Blair kind of way. There's something about the self-assuredness, but without the depth to back it up. Maybe a few years of government will make him. But for now he really turns me off the current Labour agenda.
Reminds me of Pete Buttigieg or Gavin Newsom in the US. Supremely confident in his own abilities, talks a great game, but fails to actually deliver anything of note that doesn’t make things worse.
I think that's being very unfair on Pete Buttigieg.
Well done to anyone who had Keely in their book before the Olympics, and I will take a random guess that absolutely no-one had Luke Littler on the list before the darts final last year!
Armand Duplantis a good call for the overseas award as well, I live in fear that one year they’re going to think about giving it to Max Verstappen.
The last three winners of SPOTY before last night: Mary Earps, Beth Mead, Emma Radacanu,
I'd say none of them have achieved much afterwards, and aside from Radacanu, have pretty much disappeared out of public consciousness outside their field.
SPOTY back in the day was a night you stayed in to watch a few hours of the very best of Global Sport, Global Sportsmen and women and the very best of our homegrown talent. It was the pinnacle.
I have to say last night was awful. A limited crowd, amateur presentation, toe-curling at times back slapping and frankly i have been to better organised minority and amateur local presentation events than that.
A worthy winner of the main award and the overseas award.
The fact is that the BBC don't do sport any more, outside of the major Global Events that they still have historic deals to acquire.
The sight of an overweight 17 year old barely coherent in a suit 3 sizes to big for him who plays a pub game just sums up it decline.
Worse still is the question of why world class sportwomen wh 364 days a year exude grace and confidence have to double down on this occasion each year to prove who can show the most tit without nipple is just beyond demeaning....Cover up girls rely on your outstanding god given talent and not an attempt to get on page 3.
NZ evening news led on Vanuatu where the true scale of the disaster is only now beginning to emerge.
New Zealand, Australia and Fiji are leading the immediate rescue and relief efforts. The road network around Port Vila has been badly damaged as has the port infrastructure.
Gonna miss being a local cllr. I do good work. My residents know who I am, what I do, and why they want me to be in there doing it.
County Council, no one has a clue who they are and why they are so shit.
Seems to me Labour plan to centralise power, reduce representation, lower expectations, all while lying about their motives.
On the upside, I’ll get my life back.
What I don't understand is no one has mentioned legislation.
Surely a white paper leads to an Act and a debate and so on.
All I have seen so far is councils will submitted plans in Jan/Feb and then Labour will immediate legislate to cancel May county elections and then that seems to be it.
Surely axing all district councils needs an Act???
Apparently not. After all, other areas have been through the process in a piecemeal way before...
The process of changing from a two-tier to a unitary local government system is normally referred to as ‘restructuring’ or ‘reorganisation’. The legal procedure can be found in sections 1-7 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.
The Secretary of State may invite a proposal from a local authority to make a proposal for a county or district area, or a group of districts, to be restructured into a unitary authority or authorities. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) can be, but need not be, asked for advice on any matter related to the proposal. Once a proposal is received, the Secretary of State may then consider it and announce his/her intention to make an Order implementing the proposal, or s/he may reject the proposal. Any Order must then be approved by both Houses of Parliament.
When a new unitary authority is created, the Government may decide to postpone elections to its predecessor authorities. This may be done, for instance, when scheduled elections are due to take place a year before the new unitary authority is due to come into existence. Proceeding with elections in that scenario would mean those councillors serving only a single-year term. Where elections are postponed, the terms of the sitting councillors can be extended through to the date of the first elections to the new authority.
Perusing the rags this morning I saw a story about some celeb collecting her 11th parking fine of the year off the front of her G-Wagen. It’s one of those stories you see quite regularly, footballers, footballers’ talented partners just whacking their cars in disabled bays and not giving a shit about parking fines as they are such tiny amounts in the big scheme of things.
Same happens in London with the chaps who spend the summer there with their supercars.
Would it be fairer/more effective if parking fines had extra jeopardy - they turn into licence points as they add up each year? Or should they reflect earnings like speeding fines in Finland and Switzerland - so when Kyle Walker parks in a disabled bay (for example) his ticket gets a surcharge of £10k.
Why do governments and companies make dealing with the death of a loved one so darned difficult and, sometimes, painful? Even if the deceased has planned everything, some organisations seem to go out of their way to make the process harrowing and difficult at a time when people are grieving.
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
Why do governments and companies make dealing with the death of a loved one so darned difficult and, sometimes, painful? Even if the deceased has planned everything, some organisations seem to go out of their way to make the process harrowing and difficult at a time when people are grieving.
This is not just a UK phenomenon.
I would say in my case it particularly happens when there are amateur executors and they think because they’re under stress and have so much to do they can get away with stuff.
But it’s probably also because they just don’t care very much even as they mouth platitudes about condolence.
Well done to anyone who had Keely in their book before the Olympics, and I will take a random guess that absolutely no-one had Luke Littler on the list before the darts final last year!
Armand Duplantis a good call for the overseas award as well, I live in fear that one year they’re going to think about giving it to Max Verstappen.
The last three winners of SPOTY before last night: Mary Earps, Beth Mead, Emma Radacanu,
I'd say none of them have achieved much afterwards, and aside from Radacanu, have pretty much disappeared out of public consciousness outside their field.
SPOTY back in the day was a night you stayed in to watch a few hours of the very best of Global Sport, Global Sportsmen and women and the very best of our homegrown talent. It was the pinnacle.
I have to say last night was awful. A limited crowd, amateur presentation, toe-curling at times back slapping and frankly i have been to better organised minority and amateur local presentation events than that.
A worthy winner of the main award and the overseas award.
The fact is that the BBC don't do sport any more, outside of the major Global Events that they still have historic deals to acquire.
The sight of an overweight 17 year old barely coherent in a suit 3 sizes to big for him who plays a pub game just sums up it decline.
Worse still is the question of why world class sportwomen wh 364 days a year exude grace and confidence have to double down on this occasion each year to prove who can show the most tit without nipple is just beyond demeaning....Cover up girls rely on your outstanding god given talent and not an attempt to get on page 3.
Pretty shitty personal comment to make about Luke Littler. A cracking lad,who had a stellar year and has taken the fame and fortune in his stride.
He also has managed to keep his form going proving last years Worlds were not a flash in the pan.
He deserves his awards and he deserves his recognition.
Who can be surprised at a labour person like you looking down on a working class sport. I’m stunned. Stunned.
Why do governments and companies make dealing with the death of a loved one so darned difficult and, sometimes, painful? Even if the deceased has planned everything, some organisations seem to go out of their way to make the process harrowing and difficult at a time when people are grieving.
This is not just a UK phenomenon.
I would say in my case it particularly happens when there are amateur executors and they think because they’re under stress and have so much to do they can get away with stuff.
But it’s probably also because they just don’t care very much even as they mouth platitudes about condolence.
An acquaintance lost his mother this year, and informed a company about it. They sent his mother a letter saying: "Sorry you are leaving us. Hope to see you back soon."
You can always tell an offcomer in the Yorkshire Dales, they call our walls "drystone walls". Generally they are relatively modern and were used in locations for parliamentary enclosure where hedges would no longer grow, because of the historic climate change which never happened according to "experts", experts who probably call this structure a drystone wall.
Whilst this is not a difficult location to build a wall, no shortage of material close to hand it is not a good location because of the climb of the land. Anything above 25 degrees then much of the wall is built upon itself and so it is only a matter of time before the whole lot ends up in a heap at the bottom of the hill. A wire fence would be much more appropriate at this location but not as scenic.
It often comes as a shock to those who look at scenes like this and think "how nice" that walls were built for a reason but that fences serve that function better nowadays. The compromise would be wall top wire at a locaiton like this.
But why would you rebuild a wall in a location like this, maybe three yards a day if you are really good, much better than me, for what ? To have it stolen by a neo-Marxist from North London who thinks it is a drystone wall there to make the landscape look prettier.
Well done to anyone who had Keely in their book before the Olympics, and I will take a random guess that absolutely no-one had Luke Littler on the list before the darts final last year!
Armand Duplantis a good call for the overseas award as well, I live in fear that one year they’re going to think about giving it to Max Verstappen.
The last three winners of SPOTY before last night: Mary Earps, Beth Mead, Emma Radacanu,
I'd say none of them have achieved much afterwards, and aside from Radacanu, have pretty much disappeared out of public consciousness outside their field.
SPOTY back in the day was a night you stayed in to watch a few hours of the very best of Global Sport, Global Sportsmen and women and the very best of our homegrown talent. It was the pinnacle.
I have to say last night was awful. A limited crowd, amateur presentation, toe-curling at times back slapping and frankly i have been to better organised minority and amateur local presentation events than that.
A worthy winner of the main award and the overseas award.
The fact is that the BBC don't do sport any more, outside of the major Global Events that they still have historic deals to acquire.
The sight of an overweight 17 year old barely coherent in a suit 3 sizes to big for him who plays a pub game just sums up it decline.
Worse still is the question of why world class sportwomen wh 364 days a year exude grace and confidence have to double down on this occasion each year to prove who can show the most tit without nipple is just beyond demeaning....Cover up girls rely on your outstanding god given talent and not an attempt to get on page 3.
Pretty shitty personal comment to make about Luke Littler. A cracking lad,who had a stellar year and has taken the fame and fortune in his stride.
He also has managed to keep his form going proving last years Worlds were not a flash in the pan.
He deserves his awards and he deserves his recognition.
Who can be surprised at a labour person like you looking down on a working class sport. I’m stunned. Stunned.
Darts imho is not a sport, snooker is not a sport....they are "games" and should have a separate category. As should any sport decided by judges scoring which is open to fixing.
What has sporting opinion got to do with Politics, are you suggesting seriously that Labour supporters must support Liverpool and man U as they wear read and Tory supporters must support Everton or citeh as they wear blue?...
I thought the who show was naff, and a pale pale shadow of what it once was.
Well done to anyone who had Keely in their book before the Olympics, and I will take a random guess that absolutely no-one had Luke Littler on the list before the darts final last year!
Armand Duplantis a good call for the overseas award as well, I live in fear that one year they’re going to think about giving it to Max Verstappen.
The last three winners of SPOTY before last night: Mary Earps, Beth Mead, Emma Radacanu,
I'd say none of them have achieved much afterwards, and aside from Radacanu, have pretty much disappeared out of public consciousness outside their field.
SPOTY back in the day was a night you stayed in to watch a few hours of the very best of Global Sport, Global Sportsmen and women and the very best of our homegrown talent. It was the pinnacle.
I have to say last night was awful. A limited crowd, amateur presentation, toe-curling at times back slapping and frankly i have been to better organised minority and amateur local presentation events than that.
A worthy winner of the main award and the overseas award.
The fact is that the BBC don't do sport any more, outside of the major Global Events that they still have historic deals to acquire.
The sight of an overweight 17 year old barely coherent in a suit 3 sizes to big for him who plays a pub game just sums up it decline.
Worse still is the question of why world class sportwomen wh 364 days a year exude grace and confidence have to double down on this occasion each year to prove who can show the most tit without nipple is just beyond demeaning....Cover up girls rely on your outstanding god given talent and not an attempt to get on page 3.
Pretty shitty personal comment to make about Luke Littler. A cracking lad,who had a stellar year and has taken the fame and fortune in his stride.
He also has managed to keep his form going proving last years Worlds were not a flash in the pan.
He deserves his awards and he deserves his recognition.
Who can be surprised at a labour person like you looking down on a working class sport. I’m stunned. Stunned.
Darts imho is not a sport, snooker is not a sport....they are "games" and should have a separate category. As should any sport decided by judges scoring which is open to fixing.
What has sporting opinion got to do with Politics, are you suggesting seriously that Labour supporters must support Liverpool and man U as they wear read and Tory supporters must support Everton or citeh as they wear blue?...
I thought the who show was naff, and a pale pale shadow of what it once was.
Your opinion on darts and snooker is neither here nor there. They are a part of it and have been for decades.
Your second paragraph is a nonsensical misrepresentation. Given you’re not stupid you know the point I was making.
We watched a couple of episodes of the 1% club on catch up last night.
NZ evening news led on Vanuatu where the true scale of the disaster is only now beginning to emerge.
New Zealand, Australia and Fiji are leading the immediate rescue and relief efforts. The road network around Port Vila has been badly damaged as has the port infrastructure.
Meanwhile the situation in Mayotte still seems to be deeply unclear a few days on.
You can always tell an offcomer in the Yorkshire Dales, they call our walls "drystone walls". Generally they are relatively modern and were used in locations for parliamentary enclosure where hedges would no longer grow, because of the historic climate change which never happened according to "experts", experts who probably call this structure a drystone wall.
Whilst this is not a difficult location to build a wall, no shortage of material close to hand it is not a good location because of the climb of the land. Anything above 25 degrees then much of the wall is built upon itself and so it is only a matter of time before the whole lot ends up in a heap at the bottom of the hill. A wire fence would be much more appropriate at this location but not as scenic.
It often comes as a shock to those who look at scenes like this and think "how nice" that walls were built for a reason but that fences serve that function better nowadays. The compromise would be wall top wire at a locaiton like this.
But why would you rebuild a wall in a location like this, maybe three yards a day if you are really good, much better than me, for what ? To have it stolen by a neo-Marxist from North London who thinks it is a drystone wall there to make the landscape look prettier.
Many moons ago, I spent a wet night camping in a beallach between two hills. I put my tent in what felt like the only dry spot in the area. When I awoke in the morning, I found some rusted wires under the groundsheet; the remains of a fence that marked the boundary between two counties. I'd camped with my tent on the exact boundary.
(Well, more likely they'd placed the fence across the only dry bit of land, rather than on the exact boundary...)
Inflation up yet again. Now up 0.3% over the last month so sits at 2.6%
What price a rate cut now ?
Keep them where they are.
They probably should but the economy is stalling on the back of the uncertainty created by Reeves before the budget and the misery after it. Also Sterling is getting painfully high on the back of higher interest rates (relative to our peers, especially in Europe). Its an unhappy situation all round I'm afraid.
You can always tell an offcomer in the Yorkshire Dales, they call our walls "drystone walls". Generally they are relatively modern and were used in locations for parliamentary enclosure where hedges would no longer grow, because of the historic climate change which never happened according to "experts", experts who probably call this structure a drystone wall.
Whilst this is not a difficult location to build a wall, no shortage of material close to hand it is not a good location because of the climb of the land. Anything above 25 degrees then much of the wall is built upon itself and so it is only a matter of time before the whole lot ends up in a heap at the bottom of the hill. A wire fence would be much more appropriate at this location but not as scenic.
It often comes as a shock to those who look at scenes like this and think "how nice" that walls were built for a reason but that fences serve that function better nowadays. The compromise would be wall top wire at a locaiton like this.
But why would you rebuild a wall in a location like this, maybe three yards a day if you are really good, much better than me, for what ? To have it stolen by a neo-Marxist from North London who thinks it is a drystone wall there to make the landscape look prettier.
My 'experience' is with Peak District farms (more notably, limestone White Peak). My understanding is that stone walls started as land was cleared to improve agriculture; they would move stones to a dump at the side, after which it was handy material to make walls. Many are fairly ancient (they can even scientifically date some).
Inflation up yet again. Now up 0.3% over the last month so sits at 2.6%
What price a rate cut now ?
Keep them where they are.
Actually prices only rose by 0.1% last month. The increase in inflation is because prices *fell* in Nov last year, so when they scrolled off the annual figures, annualised inflation was always likely to rise. Prices rose in Dec 2023, fell in Jan and then rose consistently from Feb to June. So all things being equal we may see a fall in annualised inflation next month, a further rise in Feb, and then falling back during the first half of the year.
Just been running an update of my Bluesky community.
Anecdata: Of the people I follow on Twitter, a further 3-4% now have developed identifiable Bluesky accounts over the last 3 weeks or so. That is approx a further ~150 or so out of 4300.
There will be a few false positives in there, and it's a continued steady drift.
Overall Bluesky accounts went up at a million a day in the week I was chattering about it previously, and have continued up at a little under a million per week since then - now reaching 25 million.
You can always tell an offcomer in the Yorkshire Dales, they call our walls "drystone walls". Generally they are relatively modern and were used in locations for parliamentary enclosure where hedges would no longer grow, because of the historic climate change which never happened according to "experts", experts who probably call this structure a drystone wall.
Whilst this is not a difficult location to build a wall, no shortage of material close to hand it is not a good location because of the climb of the land. Anything above 25 degrees then much of the wall is built upon itself and so it is only a matter of time before the whole lot ends up in a heap at the bottom of the hill. A wire fence would be much more appropriate at this location but not as scenic.
It often comes as a shock to those who look at scenes like this and think "how nice" that walls were built for a reason but that fences serve that function better nowadays. The compromise would be wall top wire at a locaiton like this.
But why would you rebuild a wall in a location like this, maybe three yards a day if you are really good, much better than me, for what ? To have it stolen by a neo-Marxist from North London who thinks it is a drystone wall there to make the landscape look prettier.
My 'experience' is with Peak District farms (more notably, limestone White Peak). My understanding is that stone walls started as land was cleared to improve agriculture; they would move stones to a dump at the side, after which it was handy material to make walls. Many are fairly ancient (they can even scientifically date some).
They are quite different from these. I have one Romano British wall on my farm. They are obvioulsy round cobbled stones, this is dressed quarried stone from the 19th C. There are very few walls of any age in the Yorkshire Dales. They hardly used stone to build houses before the 17th C. Around here quarries were opened in the 1690s mainly for stone thatch, as they called it.
Inflation up yet again. Now up 0.3% over the last month so sits at 2.6%
What price a rate cut now ?
Keep them where they are.
US Fed are almost certain to cut 25bps this evening, BoE were also expected to cut but they won’t with inflation rising.
The market has been pricing no cut from the BOE tomorrow for some time, and the rise in inflation today is in line with the consensus forecast - news if anything is to the downside with core CPI a shade below expectations.
Northern Powerhouse backing High Peak merging with Greater Manchester.
Henri Murison, who is the chief executive of the business-led think tank the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, believes the High Peak should be allowed to join Greater Manchester as part of the shake-up. He said: “The Hope Valley line is a key economic link between Sheffield and Manchester and the communities along it are conclusively part of the northern travel to work area.
“ Towns like Glossop are as much part of Greater Manchester as Stalybridge or Heaton Chapel. The 90,000 people there use many of the same services, such as in health, making this the right footprint for public service reform as well as transport.”
Are they? I think the crucial point is how the people living there see themselves.
You don't do these things by drawing lines on a map like Cecil Rhodes dividing up Southern Africa. We learnt that is 1972.
It's only a blink of the eye since you were asserting that Ripley is part of Nottingham . That methodology is the wrong end of the stick.
So you're saying we shouldn't rename Rutland, Rhodesia?
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
Voters tend to think their local council does nothing useful, or only does potholes and bin collection, or that it misspends what it gets. I don't like coming across as anti-populist, but whilst there are issues with a top down reorganisation which comes with some arbitrary preset ideas, I don't think we the general public have much useful to contribute on what makes for an effective level of local government administration.
I doubt Whitehall does either, since Whitehall really doesn't get local government, but there's at least some potentially good ideas in the White paper.
Can we start by reforming council tax so it only represents local funding? The average punter thinks it's all potholes and bins when half of it is funding for schools which is mixed in with national funding formulas.
You've missed out Adult (and Child) Social Care. Demographics (and lack of pension provision) means this will be an increasing amount.
Perusing the rags this morning I saw a story about some celeb collecting her 11th parking fine of the year off the front of her G-Wagen. It’s one of those stories you see quite regularly, footballers, footballers’ talented partners just whacking their cars in disabled bays and not giving a shit about parking fines as they are such tiny amounts in the big scheme of things.
Same happens in London with the chaps who spend the summer there with their supercars.
Would it be fairer/more effective if parking fines had extra jeopardy - they turn into licence points as they add up each year? Or should they reflect earnings like speeding fines in Finland and Switzerland - so when Kyle Walker parks in a disabled bay (for example) his ticket gets a surcharge of £10k.
Love the idea of a surcharge on Kyle Walker but not just for parking.
Seriously, you have a good idea there in principle but is it practical in a country like this? Isuspect it would lead to clever avoidance devices like offshore ownership,or dummy owners. Maybe parking offences should carry penalty points? Perhaps a little more imagination in the application of penalties and disincentives is called for.
Incidentally, whenever I hear complaints about infringements in respect of disabled parking privileges I am reminded of a story told me by a parking warden about a man who won a huge sum in damages following a nasty traffic accident. He used it to buy a McLaren, which he would park on double yellow lines and in disabled bays using his perfectly legitimate disabled badge. Turned a few heads until the locals got used to it.
Local government restructuring is never particularly popular. Which is why doing it in year 1 is good politics by Starmer (is that a first ?). Heath waited for two years.
Last thought for just now. I have never believed in capital punishment but fuck. Driving home tonight listening to what happened to that little girl. Holding her down and burning her with an iron. I felt sick. If only there was a hell for them to burn in. Absolute bastards.
Indeed. Register of home schooling and an end to the religion of "parental choice" overriding all things in education. Would be of more practical use.
The oversight of home schoolers is absolutely needed, but there is another much larger group to deal with. There is a substantial group of children registered with schools who only rarely turn up. This group is at well over average risk. Finally, I suggest there will be a group of hidden children, unknown to authority of any sort, mostly I expect from families that have no right to remain here. The risk level in all these groups must be high.
Of these groups, on average the home schoolers will be at lowest risk, despite the unbearable abominations we have heard today.
would mean the public services actually doing their jobs though
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
Voters tend to think their local council does nothing useful, or only does potholes and bin collection, or that it misspends what it gets. I don't like coming across as anti-populist, but whilst there are issues with a top down reorganisation which comes with some arbitrary preset ideas, I don't think we the general public have much useful to contribute on what makes for an effective level of local government administration.
I doubt Whitehall does either, since Whitehall really doesn't get local government, but there's at least some potentially good ideas in the White paper.
Can we start by reforming council tax so it only represents local funding? The average punter thinks it's all potholes and bins when half of it is funding for schools which is mixed in with national funding formulas.
You've missed out Adult (and Child) Social Care. Demographics (and lack of pension provision) means this will be an increasing amount.
One of the systemic issues is the disconnect between local taxation and the levels of service in things that many people use and notice.
Such a high proportion of local councils’ spending now goes on adult and childrens’ social services - which are vital services but delivered to just a few, mostly the very young and very old - that, coupled with central government restrictions - means that there is no longer any connection whatsoever between the level of local taxation and of local services, and hence how people vote - in terms of significantly changing the policy priorities of your local authority - has become an irrelevance. Which isn’t a healthy state of affairs.
Taking social care into a nationally organised care service would be a more important and useful reform for local government than all this tinkering with governance and boundaries.
Inflation up yet again. Now up 0.3% over the last month so sits at 2.6%
What price a rate cut now ?
Keep them where they are.
Actually prices only rose by 0.1% last month. The increase in inflation is because prices *fell* in Nov last year, so when they scrolled off the annual figures, annualised inflation was always likely to rise. Prices rose in Dec 2023, fell in Jan and then rose consistently from Feb to June. So all things being equal we may see a fall in annualised inflation next month, a further rise in Feb, and then falling back during the first half of the year.
Thanks for the clarification, I went off the headline figure on the news.
I hope your scenario comes to pass. I am not confident it will.
Local government restructuring is never particularly popular. Which is why doing it in year 1 is good politics by Starmer (is that a first ?). Heath waited for two years.
It might even prove to be a good idea.
Expect much squealing by vested interests. But, the current setup is nonsensical in many areas. I have already cited the classic examples - Bristol, Nottingham and Newcastle. There are countless more. Good idea to sort it out.
Just abolish it practically no one cares about local government which is why so few people bother voting in local elections. Once less than 30% of people think its actually not worth voting its time to abolish that level of government
As long as nobody thinks of creating a monster like Highland Council. It covers 9,905 square miles and a population of over 235,000. The distance by road from Duncansby Head in the north east of the council area to Ardnamurchan Point in the south west is 250 miles. Imagine a council area that stretched from Central London to Redcar!
you dont need that you have holyrood as your local council
Perusing the rags this morning I saw a story about some celeb collecting her 11th parking fine of the year off the front of her G-Wagen. It’s one of those stories you see quite regularly, footballers, footballers’ talented partners just whacking their cars in disabled bays and not giving a shit about parking fines as they are such tiny amounts in the big scheme of things.
Same happens in London with the chaps who spend the summer there with their supercars.
Would it be fairer/more effective if parking fines had extra jeopardy - they turn into licence points as they add up each year? Or should they reflect earnings like speeding fines in Finland and Switzerland - so when Kyle Walker parks in a disabled bay (for example) his ticket gets a surcharge of £10k.
Love the idea of a surcharge on Kyle Walker but not just for parking.
Seriously, you have a good idea there in principle but is it practical in a country like this? Isuspect it would lead to clever avoidance devices like offshore ownership,or dummy owners. Maybe parking offences should carry penalty points? Perhaps a little more imagination in the application of penalties and disincentives is called for.
Incidentally, whenever I hear complaints about infringements in respect of disabled parking privileges I am reminded of a story told me by a parking warden about a man who won a huge sum in damages following a nasty traffic accident. He used it to buy a McLaren, which he would park on double yellow lines and in disabled bays using his perfectly legitimate disabled badge. Turned a few heads until the locals got used to it.
I would tow cars more often for parking offences. One of the advantages being that it moves the car from where it shouldn't be, and so it's also a practical solution to the problem as well as a deterrent.
Registered owner of the car has to complete a quiz, in person, on parking regulations. Maybe also 500 lines, "I have to share this world with others and so cannot park wherever I like."
Why do governments and companies make dealing with the death of a loved one so darned difficult and, sometimes, painful? Even if the deceased has planned everything, some organisations seem to go out of their way to make the process harrowing and difficult at a time when people are grieving.
This is not just a UK phenomenon.
Totally agree. Dad has been trying to unpick Mums accounts for various things. They had BT for broadband, along with Sky TV and TNT sports for the rugby. Dad doesn’t want the internet (he’s 85) and just wanted the phone to carry on. Explained all this in September. Then again this week. Yesterday they cut off everything. Lots of angry calls from my sister (power of attorney) plus my dad on the line and the solution is a new account, with a new number (not the existing one, held for 46 years). It can be reverted in a couple of weeks apparently. Utter wankers.
Well done to anyone who had Keely in their book before the Olympics, and I will take a random guess that absolutely no-one had Luke Littler on the list before the darts final last year!
Armand Duplantis a good call for the overseas award as well, I live in fear that one year they’re going to think about giving it to Max Verstappen.
The last three winners of SPOTY before last night: Mary Earps, Beth Mead, Emma Radacanu,
I'd say none of them have achieved much afterwards, and aside from Radacanu, have pretty much disappeared out of public consciousness outside their field.
SPOTY back in the day was a night you stayed in to watch a few hours of the very best of Global Sport, Global Sportsmen and women and the very best of our homegrown talent. It was the pinnacle.
I have to say last night was awful. A limited crowd, amateur presentation, toe-curling at times back slapping and frankly i have been to better organised minority and amateur local presentation events than that.
A worthy winner of the main award and the overseas award.
The fact is that the BBC don't do sport any more, outside of the major Global Events that they still have historic deals to acquire.
The sight of an overweight 17 year old barely coherent in a suit 3 sizes to big for him who plays a pub game just sums up it decline.
Worse still is the question of why world class sportwomen wh 364 days a year exude grace and confidence have to double down on this occasion each year to prove who can show the most tit without nipple is just beyond demeaning....Cover up girls rely on your outstanding god given talent and not an attempt to get on page 3.
Pretty shitty personal comment to make about Luke Littler. A cracking lad,who had a stellar year and has taken the fame and fortune in his stride.
He also has managed to keep his form going proving last years Worlds were not a flash in the pan.
He deserves his awards and he deserves his recognition.
Who can be surprised at a labour person like you looking down on a working class sport. I’m stunned. Stunned.
Luke Littler is 2/1 favourite to win the world title. The tournament is under way and the final 3rd January.
I went out with a friend and had a Christmas dinner last night. I was mildly surprised to see a Yorkshire Pudding was included with the meal.
When did Yorkshire pud's start becoming a "thing" within the traditional Christmas dinner?
Everyone else's family does Christmas wrong. They eat the wrong things, put presents under the tree instead of in stockings, or vice versa, put up decorations and take them down again on the wrong days, and have the wrong thing on top of the tree. And don't get me started on Santa vs Father Christmas.
And as you've discovered, this extends to Yorkshire puddings.
Perusing the rags this morning I saw a story about some celeb collecting her 11th parking fine of the year off the front of her G-Wagen. It’s one of those stories you see quite regularly, footballers, footballers’ talented partners just whacking their cars in disabled bays and not giving a shit about parking fines as they are such tiny amounts in the big scheme of things.
Same happens in London with the chaps who spend the summer there with their supercars.
Would it be fairer/more effective if parking fines had extra jeopardy - they turn into licence points as they add up each year? Or should they reflect earnings like speeding fines in Finland and Switzerland - so when Kyle Walker parks in a disabled bay (for example) his ticket gets a surcharge of £10k.
Love the idea of a surcharge on Kyle Walker but not just for parking.
Seriously, you have a good idea there in principle but is it practical in a country like this? Isuspect it would lead to clever avoidance devices like offshore ownership,or dummy owners. Maybe parking offences should carry penalty points? Perhaps a little more imagination in the application of penalties and disincentives is called for.
Incidentally, whenever I hear complaints about infringements in respect of disabled parking privileges I am reminded of a story told me by a parking warden about a man who won a huge sum in damages following a nasty traffic accident. He used it to buy a McLaren, which he would park on double yellow lines and in disabled bays using his perfectly legitimate disabled badge. Turned a few heads until the locals got used to it.
Bring back the wheel clamp for them. The sheer inconvenience would be fair payback, and provide some deterrence.
Why do governments and companies make dealing with the death of a loved one so darned difficult and, sometimes, painful? Even if the deceased has planned everything, some organisations seem to go out of their way to make the process harrowing and difficult at a time when people are grieving.
This is not just a UK phenomenon.
Totally agree. Dad has been trying to unpick Mums accounts for various things. They had BT for broadband, along with Sky TV and TNT sports for the rugby. Dad doesn’t want the internet (he’s 85) and just wanted the phone to carry on. Explained all this in September. Then again this week. Yesterday they cut off everything. Lots of angry calls from my sister (power of attorney) plus my dad on the line and the solution is a new account, with a new number (not the existing one, held for 46 years). It can be reverted in a couple of weeks apparently. Utter wankers.
My parents died about 10 years apart, the second one fairly recently. I was interested to observe that some of the institutions which had been completely useless the first time round worked like greased lightning on the second occasion - but that some of the excellent operators first time round had lapsed badly.
Northern Powerhouse backing High Peak merging with Greater Manchester.
Henri Murison, who is the chief executive of the business-led think tank the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, believes the High Peak should be allowed to join Greater Manchester as part of the shake-up. He said: “The Hope Valley line is a key economic link between Sheffield and Manchester and the communities along it are conclusively part of the northern travel to work area.
“ Towns like Glossop are as much part of Greater Manchester as Stalybridge or Heaton Chapel. The 90,000 people there use many of the same services, such as in health, making this the right footprint for public service reform as well as transport.”
Are they? I think the crucial point is how the people living there see themselves.
You don't do these things by drawing lines on a map like Cecil Rhodes dividing up Southern Africa. We learnt that is 1972.
It's only a blink of the eye since you were asserting that Ripley is part of Nottingham . That methodology is the wrong end of the stick.
Ripley is part of the Nottingham Urban Area according to the ONS. I wrote literally three times that it might have a reasonable case for exclusion. Now, that’s four times…
Well done to anyone who had Keely in their book before the Olympics, and I will take a random guess that absolutely no-one had Luke Littler on the list before the darts final last year!
Armand Duplantis a good call for the overseas award as well, I live in fear that one year they’re going to think about giving it to Max Verstappen.
The last three winners of SPOTY before last night: Mary Earps, Beth Mead, Emma Radacanu,
I'd say none of them have achieved much afterwards, and aside from Radacanu, have pretty much disappeared out of public consciousness outside their field.
SPOTY back in the day was a night you stayed in to watch a few hours of the very best of Global Sport, Global Sportsmen and women and the very best of our homegrown talent. It was the pinnacle.
I have to say last night was awful. A limited crowd, amateur presentation, toe-curling at times back slapping and frankly i have been to better organised minority and amateur local presentation events than that.
A worthy winner of the main award and the overseas award.
The fact is that the BBC don't do sport any more, outside of the major Global Events that they still have historic deals to acquire.
The sight of an overweight 17 year old barely coherent in a suit 3 sizes to big for him who plays a pub game just sums up it decline.
Worse still is the question of why world class sportwomen wh 364 days a year exude grace and confidence have to double down on this occasion each year to prove who can show the most tit without nipple is just beyond demeaning....Cover up girls rely on your outstanding god given talent and not an attempt to get on page 3.
Pretty shitty personal comment to make about Luke Littler. A cracking lad,who had a stellar year and has taken the fame and fortune in his stride.
He also has managed to keep his form going proving last years Worlds were not a flash in the pan.
He deserves his awards and he deserves his recognition.
Who can be surprised at a labour person like you looking down on a working class sport. I’m stunned. Stunned.
Luke Littler is 2/1 favourite to win the world title. The tournament is under way and the final 3rd January.
Yup, it is the early rounds. Lots of love for Rashad Sweeting last night in the online darts community,
Luke Littler is still only a child, he has come so far and has had fame thrust upon him and handled it so well. Rochdale Pioneer said as much too.
I hope it does not go to his head. So far he has been an admirable ambassadord for darts,
My mother died in February. Yahoo were total ####s. They kept saying that they had to get permission from the account holder to cancel the account.
My Dad died a couple of years ago. By and large all the organisations I dealt with were fine. The only ones who were pretty useless were BMW pensions as he used to work for MG Rover when it was a part of BMW.
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
This pictures shows two city centres according to @Cookie...
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
This pictures shows two city centres according to @Cookie...
The second picture does, certainly. The first picture shows a city centre and a town centre. I don't see why this causes a problem.
Actually, to be pedantic, the quayside is only really the edge of Newcastle City Centre, and Gateshead Town Centre is some way away. I wouldn't really call Baltic Quay Gateshead Town Centre. But still. The implication of your position is that municipal boundaries can only be in fields. It's not obvious to me why this should be the case.
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
This pictures shows two city centres according to @Cookie...
The second picture does, certainly. The first picture shows a city centre and a town centre. I don't see why this causes a problem.
Actually, to be pedantic, the quayside is only really the edge of Newcastle City Centre, and Gateshead Town Centre is some way away. I wouldn't really call Baltic Quay Gateshead Town Centre. But still. The implication of your position is that municipal boundaries can only be in fields. It's not obvious to me why this should be the case.
Lol. No. They are wholly functioning parts of the same city. Simple geography. That someone called them something different hundreds of years ago doesn’t change that. Are the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s in different cities?
Comments
Something is awfully wrong
https://x.com/Osint613/status/1869150018017615895
Border collies would obviously be great PMs. They're highly intelligent, energetic, and effective.
I have to say last night was awful. A limited crowd, amateur presentation, toe-curling at times back slapping and frankly i have been to better organised minority and amateur local presentation events than that.
A worthy winner of the main award and the overseas award.
The fact is that the BBC don't do sport any more, outside of the major Global Events that they still have historic deals to acquire.
The sight of an overweight 17 year old barely coherent in a suit 3 sizes to big for him who plays a pub game just sums up it decline.
Worse still is the question of why world class sportwomen wh 364 days a year exude grace and confidence have to double down on this occasion each year to prove who can show the most tit without nipple is just beyond demeaning....Cover up girls rely on your outstanding god given talent and not an attempt to get on page 3.
New Zealand, Australia and Fiji are leading the immediate rescue and relief efforts. The road network around Port Vila has been badly damaged as has the port infrastructure.
Also note that the “proposal” only needs to come from one local authority, and doesn’t need any degree of consensus or agreement.
Same happens in London with the chaps who spend the summer there with their supercars.
Would it be fairer/more effective if parking fines had extra jeopardy - they turn into licence points as they add up each year? Or should they reflect earnings like speeding fines in Finland and Switzerland - so when Kyle Walker parks in a disabled bay (for example) his ticket gets a surcharge of £10k.
Who will be next from India? At least one of Rohit or Kohli would be my guess. The question is will it be during or after the ongoing tour?
https://munromoonwalker.com/blog/beinn-deargs-great-wall-is-sad-reminder-of-our-past
Why do governments and companies make dealing with the death of a loved one so darned difficult and, sometimes, painful? Even if the deceased has planned everything, some organisations seem to go out of their way to make the process harrowing and difficult at a time when people are grieving.
This is not just a UK phenomenon.
But it’s probably also because they just don’t care very much even as they mouth platitudes about condolence.
He also has managed to keep his form going proving last years Worlds were not a flash in the pan.
He deserves his awards and he deserves his recognition.
Who can be surprised at a labour person like you looking down on a working class sport. I’m stunned. Stunned.
Absolutely crass platitudes.
Whilst this is not a difficult location to build a wall, no shortage of material close to hand it is not a good location because of the climb of the land. Anything above 25 degrees then much of the wall is built upon itself and so it is only a matter of time before the whole lot ends up in a heap at the bottom of the hill. A wire fence would be much more appropriate at this location but not as scenic.
It often comes as a shock to those who look at scenes like this and think "how nice" that walls were built for a reason but that fences serve that function better nowadays. The compromise would be wall top wire at a locaiton like this.
But why would you rebuild a wall in a location like this, maybe three yards a day if you are really good, much better than me, for what ? To have it stolen by a neo-Marxist from North London who thinks it is a drystone wall there to make the landscape look prettier.
What has sporting opinion got to do with Politics, are you suggesting seriously that Labour supporters must support Liverpool and man U as they wear read and Tory supporters must support Everton or citeh as they wear blue?...
I thought the who show was naff, and a pale pale shadow of what it once was.
Your second paragraph is a nonsensical misrepresentation. Given you’re not stupid you know the point I was making.
We watched a couple of episodes of the 1% club on catch up last night.
What price a rate cut now ?
Keep them where they are.
(Well, more likely they'd placed the fence across the only dry bit of land, rather than on the exact boundary...)
Seriously - something needs to seriously change re. The system we have in this country. Woeful politicians and a doom loop of crap.
Just been running an update of my Bluesky community.
Anecdata: Of the people I follow on Twitter, a further 3-4% now have developed identifiable Bluesky accounts over the last 3 weeks or so. That is approx a further ~150 or so out of 4300.
There will be a few false positives in there, and it's a continued steady drift.
Overall Bluesky accounts went up at a million a day in the week I was chattering about it previously, and have continued up at a little under a million per week since then - now reaching 25 million.
YouGov @yougov.co.uk
Are Yorkshire puddings an acceptable part of a Christmas dinner?
Acceptable: 83%
Unacceptable: 9%
https://bsky.app/profile/yougov.co.uk/post/3ldjdoalyhs25
(I'm not sure what has happened to Yougov)
Shame.
GOP report recommends Liz Cheney be criminally investigated over Jan. 6 work
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5045125-republicans-report-jan-6-committee/
https://x.com/OpenSourceZone/status/1869221949504995393
Strongest Position For Each Party Last 100 Years
Democrats 1936:
House:
🔵 Democrats 342
🔴 Republicans 88
Senate:
🔵 Democrat 78
🔴 Republicans 17
Governor
🔵 Democrat 40
🔴 Republican 7
Republicans 2014
House
🔴 Republican 247
🔵 Democrat 188
Senate
🔴 Republican 54
🔵 Democrat 46
Governor
🔴 Republican 33
🔵 Democrat 17
Seriously, you have a good idea there in principle but is it practical in a country like this? Isuspect it would lead to clever avoidance devices like offshore ownership,or dummy owners. Maybe parking offences should carry penalty points? Perhaps a little more imagination in the application of penalties and disincentives is called for.
Incidentally, whenever I hear complaints about infringements in respect of disabled parking privileges I am reminded of a story told me by a parking warden about a man who won a huge sum in damages following a nasty traffic accident. He used it to buy a McLaren, which he would park on double yellow lines and in disabled bays using his perfectly legitimate disabled badge. Turned a few heads until the locals got used to it.
Such a high proportion of local councils’ spending now goes on adult and childrens’ social services - which are vital services but delivered to just a few, mostly the very young and very old - that, coupled with central government restrictions - means that there is no longer any connection whatsoever between the level of local taxation and of local services, and hence how people vote - in terms of significantly changing the policy priorities of your local authority - has become an irrelevance. Which isn’t a healthy state of affairs.
Taking social care into a nationally organised care service would be a more important and useful reform for local government than all this tinkering with governance and boundaries.
Good morning PB.
As a saver this is fine for me, but it is not good for the economy overall.
I hope your scenario comes to pass. I am not confident it will.
Registered owner of the car has to complete a quiz, in person, on parking regulations. Maybe also 500 lines, "I have to share this world with others and so cannot park wherever I like."
NEW THREAD
Pineapple Pizza requires no accompaniment apart from Die Hard on the box, while Radiohead plays quietly in the background.
Utter wankers.
When did Yorkshire pud's start becoming a "thing" within the traditional Christmas dinner?
And as you've discovered, this extends to Yorkshire puddings.
To cheer you up, here is a seasonal Jimmy Carr joke about the role of fathers at Christmas.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SKttWHtvYEQ
ETA nsfw language
The sheer inconvenience would be fair payback, and provide some deterrence.
Luke Littler is still only a child, he has come so far and has had fame thrust upon him and handled it so well. Rochdale Pioneer said as much too.
I hope it does not go to his head. So far he has been an admirable ambassadord for darts,
The govt hub was excellent.
Sadly no Yorkshire pudding was on offer but they had a lovely bread sauce on the plate.
https://www.getintonewcastle.co.uk/things-to-do/get-to-know-businesses-along-the-quayside
As does this one...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Bridge,_Greater_Manchester#/media/File:N2_Trinity_Bridge_manchester.jpg
Funny old world!
Actually, to be pedantic, the quayside is only really the edge of Newcastle City Centre, and Gateshead Town Centre is some way away. I wouldn't really call Baltic Quay Gateshead Town Centre. But still. The implication of your position is that municipal boundaries can only be in fields. It's not obvious to me why this should be the case.