I went out for bread this morning, and found the market setting up. This isn’t a big town, but the market is huge; I think probably more than half a mile long. Most of it is food
I must have seen a few hundred chickens in rotisseries, and hundreds of chunks of harder to identify meat. There were four stalls selling just olives, a lady selling everything ginger, a herb stall, a spice stall, two selling nuts, five cheese stalls, at least ten selling fruit and veg, another ten cooking food in giant pans, wine stalls, beer stalls, fresh meat stalls, cured meat stalls, one selling just cured sausages but at least fifty varieties, fish stalls, oyster stalls, mussel stalls, and a couple of bakery stalls (but I went to the bakery that the lovely lady who ran the restaurant I went to last night told me she gets her bread from)
I had my bread and cheese breakfast, and then wandered out again. By that time the market was packed. I went to the Petit Pâté de Pézenas shop and waited in the queue, when I got a rather unexpected tap on the shoulder.. It was the lovely lady from the restaurant. She told me I’d found the best place to buy them
The beer shop was closed, but the beer stall on the market wasn’t. I bought a couple of bottles of local amber beer (7.5% abv!) and went back to the flat to enjoy my Petites Pâtés
They are delicious. Tiny, sweet, spiced meat pies that go great with strong beer
Thank you Clive of India
Great to learn of your travels, Blanche, and to hear how much you like that place. Nearly bought a house there once. Sorry I didn't now.
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
This weather is like being on the Bolivian altiplano
Beautiful and warm in perfect clear sun, but as soon as you step in the shade, brrr
Many Bolivians on the altiplano don't have fridges. Because they don't need them. If they want something kept properly cold, they put it in the shade
The coldest I've ever been. Shivering in a sleeping bag while enduring a bad sunburn.
Magnificent part of the world, in an austere horrifying challenging scary dangerous way
I still remember the purple-red lake surrounded by the corpses of dead flamingoes
The flamingoes are fine as long as they stay in the thermally heated lake, but as soon as they get out they will freeze to death in moments if they don't fly away at once. The corpses are the flamingoes that couldn't get off the ground quick enough
I once camped (illegally, I think) on the Salar de Uyuni on my birthday.
I went to bed with a full water bottle by my head - next morning it was frozen solid. Turns out the salt doesn't retain heat particularly well. Who knew?
What a place tho, eh? Did you go to see that weird salt-flat-island with the shrine of sacrificed children's skeletons? Lovely
The only disappointing thing was the "salt hotel". I imagined a blinding white Taj Mahal made of Halen Mon seasalt. In reality, of course, raw salt quickly discolours so its a sludgy grey brown and looks like its made of crappy beige bricks
I must admit I was in one of my sporadic curmudgeon phases and refused to partake in any sanctioned tourist sites. We were cycling through Bolivia at the time so we just cycled onto the salt flats, made camp, nearly died, then trundled onto La Paz to get mugged and kidnapped (well, Paddy did whilst Andy and I were watching a poorly dubbed Da Vinci code).
A useless fact about Kings Place is that until 2020 you used to be able to pick up a free copy of the Guardian from the foyer of their offices. Fascinating I know. 😊
I envy them King's Place as a workspace. It's one of the best locations in London now, with all the bars and cafes and youthful excitement of Revived King's X
The whole area THROBS with life (apart from poor Coal Drops Yard, slightly hidden away). I still find it mind boggling this is the same King's X where I used to do E in raves in huge dead old warehouses amid the total urban derelicton of the 1980s
Up to a point. You've got Kings Cross here, and you've got Camden Road a mile or so to the north, but there's not a lot between them other than long one-way streets and while you could walk alongside the canal, no-one does. The whole of Camden just looks like some unconnected places that are slightly famous.
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
A useless fact about Kings Place is that until 2020 you used to be able to pick up a free copy of the Guardian from the foyer of their offices. Fascinating I know. 😊
I envy them King's Place as a workspace. It's one of the best locations in London now, with all the bars and cafes and youthful excitement of Revived King's X
The whole area THROBS with life (apart from poor Coal Drops Yard, slightly hidden away). I still find it mind boggling this is the same King's X where I used to do E in raves in huge dead old warehouses amid the total urban derelicton of the 1980s
Up to a point. You've got Kings Cross here, and you've got Camden Road a mile or so to the north, but there's not a lot between them other than long one-way streets and while you could walk alongside the canal, no-one does. The whole of Camden just looks like some unconnected places that are slightly famous.
I take your point about its being disjointed, it's an unfortunate fact of life because of the railways and the canal, they split everything up in an often annoying way, and they leave a stunning destination like Coal Drops Yard in a kind of weird cul de sac
However I take issue with the idea no one walks on the canal. Are you kidding?? The walk from Camden Lock to King;s Cross is always buzzing, even in winter, and in summer as you get near either end it is often overcrowded. It is also a truly fascinating walk, sometimes intensely picuresque with houseboats, sometimes desolately post industrial, sometimes full of weird history (Old Pancras church!) but always hugely interesting - London at its best
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
He's ok. But no doesn't "tell the truth as he sees it". He just tries to get attention.
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
He's ok. But no doesn't "tell the truth as he sees it". He just tries to get attention.
You are such a hapless dork. But it's OK. There's room for dorks, even a need for them, sometimes
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
How well I remember the PB paeans to Bastani during his Corbynite phase.
This weather is like being on the Bolivian altiplano
Beautiful and warm in perfect clear sun, but as soon as you step in the shade, brrr
Many Bolivians on the altiplano don't have fridges. Because they don't need them. If they want something kept properly cold, they put it in the shade
The coldest I've ever been. Shivering in a sleeping bag while enduring a bad sunburn.
Magnificent part of the world, in an austere horrifying challenging scary dangerous way
I still remember the purple-red lake surrounded by the corpses of dead flamingoes
The flamingoes are fine as long as they stay in the thermally heated lake, but as soon as they get out they will freeze to death in moments if they don't fly away at once. The corpses are the flamingoes that couldn't get off the ground quick enough
I once camped (illegally, I think) on the Salar de Uyuni on my birthday.
I went to bed with a full water bottle by my head - next morning it was frozen solid. Turns out the salt doesn't retain heat particularly well. Who knew?
What a place tho, eh? Did you go to see that weird salt-flat-island with the shrine of sacrificed children's skeletons? Lovely
The only disappointing thing was the "salt hotel". I imagined a blinding white Taj Mahal made of Halen Mon seasalt. In reality, of course, raw salt quickly discolours so its a sludgy grey brown and looks like its made of crappy beige bricks
I must admit I was in one of my sporadic curmudgeon phases and refused to partake in any sanctioned tourist sites. We were cycling through Bolivia at the time so we just cycled onto the salt flats, made camp, nearly died, then trundled onto La Paz to get mugged and kidnapped (well, Paddy did whilst Andy and I were watching a poorly dubbed Da Vinci code).
Kidnapped? Eesh
Was this one of this kidnappings where they take you at gunpoint from ATM to ATM and drain all your bank accounts?
That happened to a guy I met in Mexico City. An American. He was sitting at the hotel bar necking enormous amounts of whisky and still trembling with fear (this was the day after the horror). He told me they'd also kept his girlfriend at gunpoint in their room, threatening to rape or kill her if he didn't give them every cent
After he told me his horrifying story he said "I am never fucking coming back to fucking Mexico" and I didn't dispute his logic
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
How well I remember the PB paeans to Bastani during his Corbynite phase.
But that's the point. The Corbynite left actually has - or had - some really smart young people. Ash Sarkar is similar, and is also on a journey to the centre and then the right, I detect, though not as brisk a shift as Bastani's
You want people like that in your movement, open minded young intelligent and willing to have their minds changed by reality. What you don't want is tedious midwit ideologues like @kinabalu who haven't had an original thought in 30 years and haven't changed their opinions since they were 21. These dull people are deadly for a political party. They spell doom
I went out for bread this morning, and found the market setting up. This isn’t a big town, but the market is huge; I think probably more than half a mile long. Most of it is food
I must have seen a few hundred chickens in rotisseries, and hundreds of chunks of harder to identify meat. There were four stalls selling just olives, a lady selling everything ginger, a herb stall, a spice stall, two selling nuts, five cheese stalls, at least ten selling fruit and veg, another ten cooking food in giant pans, wine stalls, beer stalls, fresh meat stalls, cured meat stalls, one selling just cured sausages but at least fifty varieties, fish stalls, oyster stalls, mussel stalls, and a couple of bakery stalls (but I went to the bakery that the lovely lady who ran the restaurant I went to last night told me she gets her bread from)
I had my bread and cheese breakfast, and then wandered out again. By that time the market was packed. I went to the Petit Pâté de Pézenas shop and waited in the queue, when I got a rather unexpected tap on the shoulder.. It was the lovely lady from the restaurant. She told me I’d found the best place to buy them
The beer shop was closed, but the beer stall on the market wasn’t. I bought a couple of bottles of local amber beer (7.5% abv!) and went back to the flat to enjoy my Petites Pâtés
They are delicious. Tiny, sweet, spiced meat pies that go great with strong beer
Thank you Clive of India
Great to learn of your travels, Blanche, and to hear how much you like that place. Nearly bought a house there once. Sorry I didn't now.
Enjoy.
Where is this, please?
Pézenas in the Languedoc
I visited there decades ago. Doesn't it have connections with Moliere? I seem to remember he got ideas for characters eavesdropping in the local barber's.
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Oh, I know. And GM - or at least its southern half - is definitely improving and improving. But from, it must be conceded, a desperately low base. I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
I don't agree that it's a breakdown. He is trying to pressure them to not raise prices.
His executive order on drug prices is essentially the same thing, with him threatening to unleash the power of various federal agencies (HHS, DOJ, FTC etc) on those drug manufacturers who fail to reduce prices.
It's a good precedent for a future Democratic President to use to conduct his or her own pressure campaign against corporations.
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Oh, I know. And GM - or at least its southern half - is definitely improving and improving. But from, it must be conceded, a desperately low base. I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
We've got Gail's in North Manchester too. And people queue for their baked goods down the street - at a much better bakery.
I don't agree that it's a breakdown. He is trying to pressure them to not raise prices.
His executive order on drug prices is essentially the same thing, with him threatening to unleash the power of various federal agencies (HHS, DOJ, FTC etc) on those drug manufacturers who fail to reduce prices.
It's a good precedent for a future Democratic President to use to conduct his or her own pressure campaign against corporations.
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Oh, I know. And GM - or at least its southern half - is definitely improving and improving. But from, it must be conceded, a desperately low base. I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
Gail's in Greater Manchester is definitely an example of "levelling up", so: go Manchester
Returning to King's Cross, as I did last night, was simultaneously enlivening and saddening. It was nice because it is such a buzzy youthful place, and such a brilliant example of urban redevelopment (and it really is, town planners come from across the world to see it, and be inspired)
However it is also saddening because
1. We didn't do it everywhere in London, let alone the UK, and many other developments are decidedly worse
and
2. It feels so Blairite. It oozes the sunny optimism of, say, 1999 or 2006, when Britain was booming and things really could only get better
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
He's ok. But no doesn't "tell the truth as he sees it". He just tries to get attention.
You are such a hapless dork. But it's OK. There's room for dorks, even a need for them, sometimes
A wise dork actually. As in being wise to the MO of these opinion mongers. It's about gaining and monetising attention not (lol) "telling the truth as they see it".
You're saying that about this particular monger purely because he's saying stuff here that you happen to like.
I went out for bread this morning, and found the market setting up. This isn’t a big town, but the market is huge; I think probably more than half a mile long. Most of it is food
I must have seen a few hundred chickens in rotisseries, and hundreds of chunks of harder to identify meat. There were four stalls selling just olives, a lady selling everything ginger, a herb stall, a spice stall, two selling nuts, five cheese stalls, at least ten selling fruit and veg, another ten cooking food in giant pans, wine stalls, beer stalls, fresh meat stalls, cured meat stalls, one selling just cured sausages but at least fifty varieties, fish stalls, oyster stalls, mussel stalls, and a couple of bakery stalls (but I went to the bakery that the lovely lady who ran the restaurant I went to last night told me she gets her bread from)
I had my bread and cheese breakfast, and then wandered out again. By that time the market was packed. I went to the Petit Pâté de Pézenas shop and waited in the queue, when I got a rather unexpected tap on the shoulder.. It was the lovely lady from the restaurant. She told me I’d found the best place to buy them
The beer shop was closed, but the beer stall on the market wasn’t. I bought a couple of bottles of local amber beer (7.5% abv!) and went back to the flat to enjoy my Petites Pâtés
They are delicious. Tiny, sweet, spiced meat pies that go great with strong beer
Thank you Clive of India
Great to learn of your travels, Blanche, and to hear how much you like that place. Nearly bought a house there once. Sorry I didn't now.
Enjoy.
Where is this, please?
Pézenas in the Languedoc
I visited there decades ago. Doesn't it have connections with Moliere? I seem to remember he got ideas for characters eavesdropping in the local barber's.
I think he was born here. They named the bus stop I arrived at yesterday after him. And the cinema, a restaurant, a square, and there's a monument for him
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
He's ok. But no doesn't "tell the truth as he sees it". He just tries to get attention.
You are such a hapless dork. But it's OK. There's room for dorks, even a need for them, sometimes
A wise dork actually. As in being wise to the MO of these opinion mongers. It's about gaining and monetising attention not (lol) "telling the truth as they see it".
You're saying that about this particular monger purely because he's saying stuff here that you happen to like.
No, I'm not. I admire people who look at something and offer an unexpected worldview, it shows they are REALLY thinking
Here's an opposing example. Jacob Rees Mogg says we should bring back Shamima Begum, as she is our responsibility
I couldn't disagree more. My opinion of Ms Begum is that we should hand her over to be tried by the Kurds or Yazidis - as they were her victims - and if they decide to execute her, so be it. It is their choice. Whatever. She is despicable
Nonetheless I admire JRM for adopting a highly unexpected opinion and arguing it logically. He made me think again, even if in the end I still disagree with him, vehemently
Three Iranian men accused of spying in the UK ‘arrived in the country in lorries and small boats’
Sounds a bit odd. If they are official Iranian spies, could they not just have flown in? Surely Iran could have arranged tickets and visas, real or fake. More to come, perhaps.
A nationwide rollout of smart meters threatens to clutter the countryside with 40-foot poles
Here is the article in question. It is the assumption that any infrastructure will "blight" the country that stops so much being built. The default answer should always be yes. Other countries are laughing at how bad we are getting this wrong.
That's just your opinion bro. In all my travelling, the UK still stands out as one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Consider how we feel about those towns and cities blighted by rampant development in the 60s and 70s - let's not make the same mistake again.
Just because some spreadsheet wanker can't monetise something doesn't mean it has no value.
It's not about monetising, it's that the balance is so far to the view of "stop development" it's crazy.
If we want to grow the economy, we need to get building again. It is truly pathetic how long things take to get built here, they get completely bogged down in endless committees, appeals, other red tape, etc.
Clearly there is some balance to be found. But right now it's not anywhere near where it should be.
I've posted so many examples here of masts - as it's the industry I work in so I prefer to comment on things I know - that were blocked for nonsensical reasons.
Seems homeowners worry about the effects on the price of their homes
Now that is slightly different. The difference between a public and private good.
I have less sympathy with the house value argument, though I do think compensation (eg free broadband/data/energy) should be provided to those in close proximity to new infrastructure, simply to alter the incentives. Temper NIMBYism.
The public good is distinct from that. I am not personally enjoying Devon or wherever TimS is, and I don't live there, but there is a chance I could share that gorgeous view one day on a walk, along with the 70 million people other people on these islands. There is some value there.
This is a good case for Land Valuation Taxation, if the value of a property falls for a reason like this, the tax would drop accordingly.
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
This weather is like being on the Bolivian altiplano
Beautiful and warm in perfect clear sun, but as soon as you step in the shade, brrr
Many Bolivians on the altiplano don't have fridges. Because they don't need them. If they want something kept properly cold, they put it in the shade
Actually it's quite different. Basic physics.
You do realise I'm not literally saying "Regent's Park, elevation 100 feet above sea level, is like the Bolivian altiplano, elevation 12,000 feet above sea level"
I WILL BE SPEAKING, BY TELEPHONE, TO PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN OF RUSSIA ON MONDAY, AT 10:00 A.M. THE SUBJECTS OF THE CALL WILL BE, STOPPING THE "BLOODBATH" THAT IS KILLING, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN 5000 RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS A WEEK, AND TRADE. I WILL THEN BE SPEAKING TO PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY OF UKRAINE AND THEN, WITH PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY, VARIOUS MEMBERS OF NATO. HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END. GOD BLESS US ALL!!!
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
How well I remember the PB paeans to Bastani during his Corbynite phase.
But that's the point. The Corbynite left actually has - or had - some really smart young people. Ash Sarkar is similar, and is also on a journey to the centre and then the right, I detect, though not as brisk a shift as Bastani's
You want people like that in your movement, open minded young intelligent and willing to have their minds changed by reality. What you don't want is tedious midwit ideologues like @kinabalu who haven't had an original thought in 30 years and haven't changed their opinions since they were 21. These dull people are deadly for a political party. They spell doom
A nationwide rollout of smart meters threatens to clutter the countryside with 40-foot poles
Here is the article in question. It is the assumption that any infrastructure will "blight" the country that stops so much being built. The default answer should always be yes. Other countries are laughing at how bad we are getting this wrong.
We should just stop the smart meter rollout. Nobody wants them, or the poles they need. It's a waste of billpayers' and taxpayers' money.
Speak for yourself
I am speaking for myself, and for a majority of people - the level of uptake when taking into account the vast publicly-funded media campaign and all but coercion in some instances is paltry. If energy companies want their consumers to get these meters, they should fund the rollout.
And using price to match demand to supply isn't new. It's what the good old Economy 7 tariff did. The point there was that it was a bugger to turn off coal power stations, even overnight.
It says in the link you posted that the cost is borne in the standing charge? That is everybody's standing charge, not the meter owners'.
On the other hand, smart meters make it cheaper for energy companies to provide their services. No need to send people walking the streets to read meters for a start. From a 2023 select committee report;
In 2019, the Department estimated the rollout would cost £13.5 billion from 2013 to 2034, and provide £19.5 billion of benefits over the same period (both in 2011 prices).
Maybe people insisting on sticking with dumb meters should have to pay extra.
Thanks for being so typically gracious in admitting you were wrong.
I'd file that cost-benefit analysis amongst all the other times that the public has been asked to 'invest' and bear 'short term costs' for 'long term gain', except it appears that that particular bin is full.
I WILL BE SPEAKING, BY TELEPHONE, TO PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN OF RUSSIA ON MONDAY, AT 10:00 A.M. THE SUBJECTS OF THE CALL WILL BE, STOPPING THE "BLOODBATH" THAT IS KILLING, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN 5000 RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS A WEEK, AND TRADE. I WILL THEN BE SPEAKING TO PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY OF UKRAINE AND THEN, WITH PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY, VARIOUS MEMBERS OF NATO. HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END. GOD BLESS US ALL!!!
DID YOU DO ANYTHING TO PERSUADE PUTIN TO WITHDRAW FROM CRIMEA AND DONBAS DURING YOUR FIRST TERM, MR PRESIDENT? I'M TALKING 2017 TO 2021!!!
Three Iranian men accused of spying in the UK ‘arrived in the country in lorries and small boats’
Sounds a bit odd. If they are official Iranian spies, could they not just have flown in? Surely Iran could have arranged tickets and visas, real or fake. More to come, perhaps.
Iran Air still has flights into LHR, if Jerry's Sunday show at Big Jet TV is to be believed.
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
How well I remember the PB paeans to Bastani during his Corbynite phase.
Isn't the SNP itself on a rightward journey from the united colours of male rapists in womens' prisons era into the age of the wee frees, via a grey and soon to be forgotten Swinney interregnum?
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Contrast, if you will, the almost servile attention given to Farage.
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
How well I remember the PB paeans to Bastani during his Corbynite phase.
But that's the point. The Corbynite left actually has - or had - some really smart young people. Ash Sarkar is similar, and is also on a journey to the centre and then the right, I detect, though not as brisk a shift as Bastani's
You want people like that in your movement, open minded young intelligent and willing to have their minds changed by reality. What you don't want is tedious midwit ideologues like @kinabalu who haven't had an original thought in 30 years and haven't changed their opinions since they were 21. These dull people are deadly for a political party. They spell doom
Oh dear ... "midwit".
And you reckon I'm tedious.
Thankfully for all of us, tediousness on PB is not a rationed commodity.
This weather is like being on the Bolivian altiplano
Beautiful and warm in perfect clear sun, but as soon as you step in the shade, brrr
Many Bolivians on the altiplano don't have fridges. Because they don't need them. If they want something kept properly cold, they put it in the shade
Actually it's quite different. Basic physics.
You do realise I'm not literally saying "Regent's Park, elevation 100 feet above sea level, is like the Bolivian altiplano, elevation 12,000 feet above sea level"
Just pointing out the comparison is a bit silly.
You realise that it's the difference in elevation - and the relative lack of atmospheric IR scattering - that makes the feel of the weather there fundamentally different ?
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Contrast, if you will, the almost servile attention given to Farage.
Yes, I also agree. For a party that has only achieved 5 MPs so far it does get an awful lot more coverage than LibDems, SNP, Green or Conservatives.
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
Consider where abuse towards politicians comes from.
A lot of it is from embittered rivals on your own side. Up to now, Farage hasn't really had to deal with those, because he hasn't had any. He has been head-and-shoulders the only big beast on the populist right for years. We're seeing a bit of pushback from Rupert Lowe, but who is he, really? The Conservatives really ought to have gone full-on studs-up on Farage long ago, before he started eating their lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, coffee and After Eight mints. For various reasons, they didn't.
Another big slice is from your opponents. And one of the strange things about the British left is how hand-wringy they are about proper vulgar abuse.
Probably more importantly, vitriol only really sticks if the public are annoyed with something a politician has done. And, for all the noise he has made, all he has dragged others in his direction, Farage has never actually run anything, never had to take an actual decision. That is politics on easy mode.
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
Starmer gets the mickey taken out of him because he is a stiff, dork. But not being able to see the stick Farage, or Boris come to that, gets/got on here on a daily basis is the most glaring example possible of not seeing what you agree with as criticism. Truly staggering
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
He's ok. But no doesn't "tell the truth as he sees it". He just tries to get attention.
You are such a hapless dork. But it's OK. There's room for dorks, even a need for them, sometimes
A wise dork actually. As in being wise to the MO of these opinion mongers. It's about gaining and monetising attention not (lol) "telling the truth as they see it".
You're saying that about this particular monger purely because he's saying stuff here that you happen to like.
No, I'm not. I admire people who look at something and offer an unexpected worldview, it shows they are REALLY thinking
Here's an opposing example. Jacob Rees Mogg says we should bring back Shamima Begum, as she is our responsibility
I couldn't disagree more. My opinion of Ms Begum is that we should hand her over to be tried by the Kurds or Yazidis - as they were her victims - and if they decide to execute her, so be it. It is their choice. Whatever. She is despicable
Nonetheless I admire JRM for adopting a highly unexpected opinion and arguing it logically. He made me think again, even if in the end I still disagree with him, vehemently
You're just virtue signaling. JRM didn't for one second make you reconsider about Begum. In general, straining to be different and "unexpected" does not map to free intelligent thinking.
This weather is like being on the Bolivian altiplano
Beautiful and warm in perfect clear sun, but as soon as you step in the shade, brrr
Many Bolivians on the altiplano don't have fridges. Because they don't need them. If they want something kept properly cold, they put it in the shade
Actually it's quite different. Basic physics.
You do realise I'm not literally saying "Regent's Park, elevation 100 feet above sea level, is like the Bolivian altiplano, elevation 12,000 feet above sea level"
Just pointing out the comparison is a bit silly.
You realise that it's the difference in elevation - and the relative lack of atmospheric IR scattering - that makes the feel of the weather there fundamentally different ?
Yes
I was merely pointing out - in a colourful way - that this spell of weather feels a little odd, for southern England. Bright endless Maytime sunshine - but the ambient temps must be low as it is so cold in the shade, and there are chilly breezes too (the wind is from the north, albeit light)
It reminds me of the weather in lockdown 1, which turned into a grey summer. Hopefully not the case this time
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
I don't think Starmer ever expected to be PM when he went into politics. And, if it hadn't been for the bog Corbyn made, or was said by the twitterati to have made, of things sometimes, Starmer might have ended up as a competent Attorney General or Roy Jenkins-like Home Secretary. IMHO, for what little it is worth, I think Ed Miliband should have stayed in post after 2015. He might well have defeated May in 2017.
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
He's ok. But no doesn't "tell the truth as he sees it". He just tries to get attention.
You are such a hapless dork. But it's OK. There's room for dorks, even a need for them, sometimes
A wise dork actually. As in being wise to the MO of these opinion mongers. It's about gaining and monetising attention not (lol) "telling the truth as they see it".
You're saying that about this particular monger purely because he's saying stuff here that you happen to like.
No, I'm not. I admire people who look at something and offer an unexpected worldview, it shows they are REALLY thinking
Here's an opposing example. Jacob Rees Mogg says we should bring back Shamima Begum, as she is our responsibility
I couldn't disagree more. My opinion of Ms Begum is that we should hand her over to be tried by the Kurds or Yazidis - as they were her victims - and if they decide to execute her, so be it. It is their choice. Whatever. She is despicable
Nonetheless I admire JRM for adopting a highly unexpected opinion and arguing it logically. He made me think again, even if in the end I still disagree with him, vehemently
You're just virtue signaling. JRM didn't for one second make you reconsider about Begum. In general, straining to be different and "unexpected" does not map to free intelligent thinking.
I don't agree that it's a breakdown. He is trying to pressure them to not raise prices.
His executive order on drug prices is essentially the same thing, with him threatening to unleash the power of various federal agencies (HHS, DOJ, FTC etc) on those drug manufacturers who fail to reduce prices.
It's a good precedent for a future Democratic President to use to conduct his or her own pressure campaign against corporations.
He is trying to command the business to fail
"Sell your stuff at a loss, or else"
He's mental
He's playing hardball and setting a very useful precedent.
Democratic Presidents have been frustrated for a long time at being unable to do anything meaningful to help less well-off Americans because nothing gets passed in the Senate. They haven't used the power of the Presidency to pressure Corporations because of a desire to obey norms.
A future President Pritzker or President AOC can now use Trump's precedents as a useful stick with which to beat Corporations on things like price gouging.
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Contrast, if you will, the almost servile attention given to Farage.
Yes, I also agree. For a party that has only achieved 5 MPs so far it does get an awful lot more coverage than LibDems, SNP, Green or Conservatives.
Probably because they are a new party, even allowing for them being a retread of the Brexit Party, and leading the opinion polls.
The 5 MPs thing is a bit of a red herring, they got 4m votes, which is many more than the Lib Dems or the Greens. If it was a genuine two party system and one of the parties won every constituency by one vote, would you expect blanket coverage of them and none of the party that finished 650 votes and seats behind them?
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
Starmer gets the mickey taken out of him because he is a stiff, dork. But not being able to see the stick Farage, or Boris come to that, gets/got on here on a daily basis is the most glaring example possible of not seeing what you agree with as criticism. Truly staggering
I watched a repeat of Red Dwarf the other night on the Beeb, and even Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie) is way more charismatic than Starmer!
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
Starmer gets the mickey taken out of him because he is a stiff, dork. But not being able to see the stick Farage, or Boris come to that, gets/got on here on a daily basis is the most glaring example possible of not seeing what you agree with as criticism. Truly staggering
Indeed. It's a kind of blinkered vision which is so narrow it shades into outright stupidity
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Oh, I know. And GM - or at least its southern half - is definitely improving and improving. But from, it must be conceded, a desperately low base. I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
Gail's in Greater Manchester is definitely an example of "levelling up", so: go Manchester
Returning to King's Cross, as I did last night, was simultaneously enlivening and saddening. It was nice because it is such a buzzy youthful place, and such a brilliant example of urban redevelopment (and it really is, town planners come from across the world to see it, and be inspired)
However it is also saddening because
1. We didn't do it everywhere in London, let alone the UK, and many other developments are decidedly worse
and
2. It feels so Blairite. It oozes the sunny optimism of, say, 1999 or 2006, when Britain was booming and things really could only get better
Sigh
Interesting you should raise King's Cross. With government currently (extremely half-heartedly) looking at new high-speed-ish lines to Manchester (Liverpool-Manchester (and on to Leeds?) and son-of-HS2), GM is uaing Kings Cross as an exenplar of what could be done at Piccadilly. The back of Piccadilly ia currently low-grade-industrial and a red light area, but the pressure for development is immense. But government's proposal is that the new line should emerge from a tunnel a mile south of Manchester and arrive on railway viaducts - thereby sterilising most of the area. GM wants to keep the new railway underground and have a through station (cf Thameslink) and develop the site (cf Kings Cross). At Select Committee in 2023, the HS2 witness pointed out that you could have community centres under railway viaducts. That appears to be the height of government ambition for the north. Largely, they see us as one big council estate.
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
The criticism is justified in some cases, but you and the PB gang just pile in without any thought or moderation. I wonder if this is a reaction against shame of supporting a previous government with very similar weaknesses which you never called out.
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
He's ok. But no doesn't "tell the truth as he sees it". He just tries to get attention.
You are such a hapless dork. But it's OK. There's room for dorks, even a need for them, sometimes
A wise dork actually. As in being wise to the MO of these opinion mongers. It's about gaining and monetising attention not (lol) "telling the truth as they see it".
You're saying that about this particular monger purely because he's saying stuff here that you happen to like.
No, I'm not. I admire people who look at something and offer an unexpected worldview, it shows they are REALLY thinking
Here's an opposing example. Jacob Rees Mogg says we should bring back Shamima Begum, as she is our responsibility
I couldn't disagree more. My opinion of Ms Begum is that we should hand her over to be tried by the Kurds or Yazidis - as they were her victims - and if they decide to execute her, so be it. It is their choice. Whatever. She is despicable
Nonetheless I admire JRM for adopting a highly unexpected opinion and arguing it logically. He made me think again, even if in the end I still disagree with him, vehemently
You're just virtue signaling. JRM didn't for one second make you reconsider about Begum. In general, straining to be different and "unexpected" does not map to free intelligent thinking.
Yep, you're still tedious
You dislike being sussed, don't you. Get irritated.
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
How well I remember the PB paeans to Bastani during his Corbynite phase.
Isn't the SNP itself on a rightward journey from the united colours of male rapists in womens' prisons era into the age of the wee frees, via a grey and soon to be forgotten Swinney interregnum?
Not unless Kate Forbes succeeds him as leader which is unlikely. Swinney is basically the John Major of the SNP
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
I don't think Starmer ever expected to be PM when he went into politics. And, if it hadn't been for the bog Corbyn made, or was said by the twitterati to have made, of things sometimes, Starmer might have ended up as a competent Attorney General or Roy Jenkins-like Home Secretary. IMHO, for what little it is worth, I think Ed Miliband should have stayed in post after 2015. He might well have defeated May in 2017.
And even when elected leader in 2020, the most likely scenario was going down to an honourable, improved defeat in 2023 or so against Johnson or Sunak or someone not bonkers. Doing what Michael Howard did for the Conservatives in 2005, preparing the way for the next Labour PM.
A lot of things had to happen, one after the other, to get him into Downing Street. Then it was on the basis that the alternatives were all even worse... and that still broadly applies.
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
I don't think Starmer ever expected to be PM when he went into politics. And, if it hadn't been for the bog Corbyn made, or was said by the twitterati to have made, of things sometimes, Starmer might have ended up as a competent Attorney General or Roy Jenkins-like Home Secretary. IMHO, for what little it is worth, I think Ed Miliband should have stayed in post after 2015. He might well have defeated May in 2017.
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Oh, I know. And GM - or at least its southern half - is definitely improving and improving. But from, it must be conceded, a desperately low base. I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
Gail's in Greater Manchester is definitely an example of "levelling up", so: go Manchester
Returning to King's Cross, as I did last night, was simultaneously enlivening and saddening. It was nice because it is such a buzzy youthful place, and such a brilliant example of urban redevelopment (and it really is, town planners come from across the world to see it, and be inspired)
However it is also saddening because
1. We didn't do it everywhere in London, let alone the UK, and many other developments are decidedly worse
and
2. It feels so Blairite. It oozes the sunny optimism of, say, 1999 or 2006, when Britain was booming and things really could only get better
Sigh
Interesting you should raise King's Cross. With government currently (extremely half-heartedly) looking at new high-speed-ish lines to Manchester (Liverpool-Manchester (and on to Leeds?) and son-of-HS2), GM is uaing Kings Cross as an exenplar of what could be done at Piccadilly. The back of Piccadilly ia currently low-grade-industrial and a red light area, but the pressure for development is immense. But government's proposal is that the new line should emerge from a tunnel a mile south of Manchester and arrive on railway viaducts - thereby sterilising most of the area. GM wants to keep the new railway underground and have a through station (cf Thameslink) and develop the site (cf Kings Cross). At Select Committee in 2023, the HS2 witness pointed out that you could have community centres under railway viaducts. That appears to be the height of government ambition for the north. Largely, they see us as one big council estate.
I really like the idea of linking all the great northern cities together, Liverpool to Leeds, into one great mighty conurbation - big enough to rival London. Do it with intense local transport links, bridges and tunnels, trams and trains, knit it all into one megacity run by one authority
That would be great for the north and great for the UK, somewhere to balance London. Make this neo-greater-Manchester the northern capital of Britain
Britain is small, compact and densely populated. We need to turn this to our advantage. The absurd disaster of HS2 is an example of us doing the opposite. Britain is so small we don't actually need genuinely high speed trains. 100mph is fine. Just build more capacity
This weather is like being on the Bolivian altiplano
Beautiful and warm in perfect clear sun, but as soon as you step in the shade, brrr
Many Bolivians on the altiplano don't have fridges. Because they don't need them. If they want something kept properly cold, they put it in the shade
The coldest I've ever been. Shivering in a sleeping bag while enduring a bad sunburn.
Magnificent part of the world, in an austere horrifying challenging scary dangerous way
I still remember the purple-red lake surrounded by the corpses of dead flamingoes
The flamingoes are fine as long as they stay in the thermally heated lake, but as soon as they get out they will freeze to death in moments if they don't fly away at once. The corpses are the flamingoes that couldn't get off the ground quick enough
I once camped (illegally, I think) on the Salar de Uyuni on my birthday.
I went to bed with a full water bottle by my head - next morning it was frozen solid. Turns out the salt doesn't retain heat particularly well. Who knew?
What a place tho, eh? Did you go to see that weird salt-flat-island with the shrine of sacrificed children's skeletons? Lovely
The only disappointing thing was the "salt hotel". I imagined a blinding white Taj Mahal made of Halen Mon seasalt. In reality, of course, raw salt quickly discolours so its a sludgy grey brown and looks like its made of crappy beige bricks
I must admit I was in one of my sporadic curmudgeon phases and refused to partake in any sanctioned tourist sites. We were cycling through Bolivia at the time so we just cycled onto the salt flats, made camp, nearly died, then trundled onto La Paz to get mugged and kidnapped (well, Paddy did whilst Andy and I were watching a poorly dubbed Da Vinci code).
When I was there the miners dynamited the road back to Peru and killed a government official (I think). Plus an earthquake which trapped me in a tiny village for three days which only had mystery fruit as food. First time I'd ever heard gunshots in an urban environment.
I'm very impressed by the cycling, must have been brutal but beautiful.
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
The criticism is justified in some cases, but you and the PB gang just pile in without any thought or moderation. I wonder if this is a reaction against shame of supporting a previous government with very similar weaknesses which you never called out.
Yes, Boris Johnson was given a free ride by his opponents on here. No BDS at all.
It reminded me of the calm, considered way the same people accepted losing the EU Referendum
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
He's ok. But no doesn't "tell the truth as he sees it". He just tries to get attention.
You are such a hapless dork. But it's OK. There's room for dorks, even a need for them, sometimes
A wise dork actually. As in being wise to the MO of these opinion mongers. It's about gaining and monetising attention not (lol) "telling the truth as they see it".
You're saying that about this particular monger purely because he's saying stuff here that you happen to like.
No, I'm not. I admire people who look at something and offer an unexpected worldview, it shows they are REALLY thinking
Here's an opposing example. Jacob Rees Mogg says we should bring back Shamima Begum, as she is our responsibility
I couldn't disagree more. My opinion of Ms Begum is that we should hand her over to be tried by the Kurds or Yazidis - as they were her victims - and if they decide to execute her, so be it. It is their choice. Whatever. She is despicable
Nonetheless I admire JRM for adopting a highly unexpected opinion and arguing it logically. He made me think again, even if in the end I still disagree with him, vehemently
You're just virtue signaling. JRM didn't for one second make you reconsider about Begum. In general, straining to be different and "unexpected" does not map to free intelligent thinking.
Yep, you're still tedious
You dislike being sussed, don't you. Get irritated.
And yet I am right, aren't I? You haven't had an original thought in 30 years and you haven't changed your opinion since you were 21. Sometimes this reality is visible on your tiny radar of self-awareness, and it vaguely troubles you, yet you're not sure why, so you look away, and forget about it. Like someone ignoring a malignant symptom
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
The criticism is justified in some cases, but you and the PB gang just pile in without any thought or moderation. I wonder if this is a reaction against shame of supporting a previous government with very similar weaknesses which you never called out.
Where to even begin with this level of denial and idiocy? I know, I shan't begin. There. Sorted
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Oh, I know. And GM - or at least its southern half - is definitely improving and improving. But from, it must be conceded, a desperately low base. I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
Gail's in Greater Manchester is definitely an example of "levelling up", so: go Manchester
Returning to King's Cross, as I did last night, was simultaneously enlivening and saddening. It was nice because it is such a buzzy youthful place, and such a brilliant example of urban redevelopment (and it really is, town planners come from across the world to see it, and be inspired)
However it is also saddening because
1. We didn't do it everywhere in London, let alone the UK, and many other developments are decidedly worse
and
2. It feels so Blairite. It oozes the sunny optimism of, say, 1999 or 2006, when Britain was booming and things really could only get better
Sigh
Interesting you should raise King's Cross. With government currently (extremely half-heartedly) looking at new high-speed-ish lines to Manchester (Liverpool-Manchester (and on to Leeds?) and son-of-HS2), GM is uaing Kings Cross as an exenplar of what could be done at Piccadilly. The back of Piccadilly ia currently low-grade-industrial and a red light area, but the pressure for development is immense. But government's proposal is that the new line should emerge from a tunnel a mile south of Manchester and arrive on railway viaducts - thereby sterilising most of the area. GM wants to keep the new railway underground and have a through station (cf Thameslink) and develop the site (cf Kings Cross). At Select Committee in 2023, the HS2 witness pointed out that you could have community centres under railway viaducts. That appears to be the height of government ambition for the north. Largely, they see us as one big council estate.
I really like the idea of linking all the great northern cities together, Liverpool to Leeds, into one great mighty conurbation - big enough to rival London. Do it with intense local transport links, bridges and tunnels, trams and trains, knit it all into one megacity run by one authority
That would be great for the north and great for the UK, somewhere to balance London. Make this neo-greater-Manchester the northern capital of Britain
Britain is small, compact and densely populated. We need to turn this to our advantage. The absurd disaster of HS2 is an example of us doing the opposite. Britain is so small we don't actually need genuinely high speed trains. 100mph is fine. Just build more capacity
England isn't particularly densely populated, unfortunately. That's why London is so much easier to justify investment in - a tram stop is within walking distance of 10s of thousands of people, while in northern suburbia it's a couple of hundred detached Barratts. It's also why we struggle with excessive demand for land.
This is the big elephant in the room. Transport investment in provincial England does not deliver the same benefit-cost as it does in countries with densely populated cities. Manchester is turning towards that model, slowly...
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
Starmer gets the mickey taken out of him because he is a stiff, dork. But not being able to see the stick Farage, or Boris come to that, gets/got on here on a daily basis is the most glaring example possible of not seeing what you agree with as criticism. Truly staggering
I watched a repeat of Red Dwarf the other night on the Beeb, and even Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie) is way more charismatic than Starmer!
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
How well I remember the PB paeans to Bastani during his Corbynite phase.
Isn't the SNP itself on a rightward journey from the united colours of male rapists in womens' prisons era into the age of the wee frees, via a grey and soon to be forgotten Swinney interregnum?
But sure as eggs is eggs Yoons will be raging at the SNP regardless of what stage of a ‘journey’ they’re on, so that’s one constant we can all rely on.
A nationwide rollout of smart meters threatens to clutter the countryside with 40-foot poles
Here is the article in question. It is the assumption that any infrastructure will "blight" the country that stops so much being built. The default answer should always be yes. Other countries are laughing at how bad we are getting this wrong.
That's just your opinion bro. In all my travelling, the UK still stands out as one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Consider how we feel about those towns and cities blighted by rampant development in the 60s and 70s - let's not make the same mistake again.
Just because some spreadsheet wanker can't monetise something doesn't mean it has no value.
It's not about monetising, it's that the balance is so far to the view of "stop development" it's crazy.
If we want to grow the economy, we need to get building again. It is truly pathetic how long things take to get built here, they get completely bogged down in endless committees, appeals, other red tape, etc.
Clearly there is some balance to be found. But right now it's not anywhere near where it should be.
I've posted so many examples here of masts - as it's the industry I work in so I prefer to comment on things I know - that were blocked for nonsensical reasons.
Seems homeowners worry about the effects on the price of their homes
Now that is slightly different. The difference between a public and private good.
I have less sympathy with the house value argument, though I do think compensation (eg free broadband/data/energy) should be provided to those in close proximity to new infrastructure, simply to alter the incentives. Temper NIMBYism.
The public good is distinct from that. I am not personally enjoying Devon or wherever TimS is, and I don't live there, but there is a chance I could share that gorgeous view one day on a walk, along with the 70 million people other people on these islands. There is some value there.
I doubt devon where I live is enjoying having lycra clad oiks like you visiting either, indeed heard the driver of my taxi swearing at one of your ilk swearing about one of your people riding in such a way he was unable to overtake
DOGE has cut US non-defence spending by slightly more than 20% so far. That's about 0.7% of GDP. Will be interesting to see how much of this spending the next president re-introduces.
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
The criticism is justified in some cases, but you and the PB gang just pile in without any thought or moderation. I wonder if this is a reaction against shame of supporting a previous government with very similar weaknesses which you never called out.
Where to even begin with this level of denial and idiocy? I know, I shan't begin. There. Sorted
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Oh, I know. And GM - or at least its southern half - is definitely improving and improving. But from, it must be conceded, a desperately low base. I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
Gail's in Greater Manchester is definitely an example of "levelling up", so: go Manchester
Returning to King's Cross, as I did last night, was simultaneously enlivening and saddening. It was nice because it is such a buzzy youthful place, and such a brilliant example of urban redevelopment (and it really is, town planners come from across the world to see it, and be inspired)
However it is also saddening because
1. We didn't do it everywhere in London, let alone the UK, and many other developments are decidedly worse
and
2. It feels so Blairite. It oozes the sunny optimism of, say, 1999 or 2006, when Britain was booming and things really could only get better
Sigh
Interesting you should raise King's Cross. With government currently (extremely half-heartedly) looking at new high-speed-ish lines to Manchester (Liverpool-Manchester (and on to Leeds?) and son-of-HS2), GM is uaing Kings Cross as an exenplar of what could be done at Piccadilly. The back of Piccadilly ia currently low-grade-industrial and a red light area, but the pressure for development is immense. But government's proposal is that the new line should emerge from a tunnel a mile south of Manchester and arrive on railway viaducts - thereby sterilising most of the area. GM wants to keep the new railway underground and have a through station (cf Thameslink) and develop the site (cf Kings Cross). At Select Committee in 2023, the HS2 witness pointed out that you could have community centres under railway viaducts. That appears to be the height of government ambition for the north. Largely, they see us as one big council estate.
I really like the idea of linking all the great northern cities together, Liverpool to Leeds, into one great mighty conurbation - big enough to rival London. Do it with intense local transport links, bridges and tunnels, trams and trains, knit it all into one megacity run by one authority
That would be great for the north and great for the UK, somewhere to balance London. Make this neo-greater-Manchester the northern capital of Britain
Britain is small, compact and densely populated. We need to turn this to our advantage. The absurd disaster of HS2 is an example of us doing the opposite. Britain is so small we don't actually need genuinely high speed trains. 100mph is fine. Just build more capacity
HS2 did both. It freed up line capacity for both freight and passengers.
Starmer's failure to resurrect HS2 will forever be an albatross around his neck. In the late 1950s, 60s and 70s we built thousands of miles of motorway from scratch. Today we can't even get 80 miles of track from Birmingham to Manchester and another hundred from Birmingham to Leeds and over thirty years. And the biggest irony is we've been charged hundreds of millions of pounds to knock it on the head before a shovel hit the soil.
DOGE has cut US non-defence spending by slightly more than 20% so far. That's about 0.7% of GDP. Will be interesting to see how much of this spending the next president re-introduces.
If Vance, very little, if a Democrat most of it and more
That 9% Green number is astonishing. I don't hold with those that think we'd be plunged into the iron age if the Greens ever put their policies in place. I'm more of the stone age view.
(Although there does seem to be a very gradual shift towards reality in their stated views)
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
How well I remember the PB paeans to Bastani during his Corbynite phase.
Isn't the SNP itself on a rightward journey from the united colours of male rapists in womens' prisons era into the age of the wee frees, via a grey and soon to be forgotten Swinney interregnum?
But sure as eggs is eggs Yoons will be raging at the SNP regardless of what stage of a ‘journey’ they’re on, so that’s one constant we can all rely on.
Swinney did vote against the assisted dying bill and worked for Scottish Life Assurance, of all the SNP FMs in my lifetime he looks the most like a Tory. I still wouldn't vote SNP however
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Oh, I know. And GM - or at least its southern half - is definitely improving and improving. But from, it must be conceded, a desperately low base. I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
Gail's in Greater Manchester is definitely an example of "levelling up", so: go Manchester
Returning to King's Cross, as I did last night, was simultaneously enlivening and saddening. It was nice because it is such a buzzy youthful place, and such a brilliant example of urban redevelopment (and it really is, town planners come from across the world to see it, and be inspired)
However it is also saddening because
1. We didn't do it everywhere in London, let alone the UK, and many other developments are decidedly worse
and
2. It feels so Blairite. It oozes the sunny optimism of, say, 1999 or 2006, when Britain was booming and things really could only get better
Sigh
Interesting you should raise King's Cross. With government currently (extremely half-heartedly) looking at new high-speed-ish lines to Manchester (Liverpool-Manchester (and on to Leeds?) and son-of-HS2), GM is uaing Kings Cross as an exenplar of what could be done at Piccadilly. The back of Piccadilly ia currently low-grade-industrial and a red light area, but the pressure for development is immense. But government's proposal is that the new line should emerge from a tunnel a mile south of Manchester and arrive on railway viaducts - thereby sterilising most of the area. GM wants to keep the new railway underground and have a through station (cf Thameslink) and develop the site (cf Kings Cross). At Select Committee in 2023, the HS2 witness pointed out that you could have community centres under railway viaducts. That appears to be the height of government ambition for the north. Largely, they see us as one big council estate.
HS2 absolutely has to be a tunnel through Manchester - nothing else allows onward connectivity...
A nationwide rollout of smart meters threatens to clutter the countryside with 40-foot poles
Here is the article in question. It is the assumption that any infrastructure will "blight" the country that stops so much being built. The default answer should always be yes. Other countries are laughing at how bad we are getting this wrong.
We should just stop the smart meter rollout. Nobody wants them, or the poles they need. It's a waste of billpayers' and taxpayers' money.
They are essential to allow consumers and businesses to take advantage of cheap (or free) electricity during windy/sunny periods. They will save people a considerable sum each year by matching demand to supply.
Otherwise, we do stupid things like asking wind farms to disconnect from the grid, when we should be using that free electricity to charge batteries or run the bread machine.
They are a thing which will allow hackers to take control and turn off a lot of peoples electrical supply, they are a thing that will allow electric companies to cut off "non payers" electrical supply even when they have paid and have proof with no judicial process involved. They are a thing which governments can use to cut off people they see as non essential users (people using it for lighting, heating, cooking) if they deem the companies needs greater
I'll be deciding where the wind is blowing in 2028 and betting accordingly. If that's towards Reform then I'll be betting on them.
But at the moment it's just too early to say. I don't underestimate Starmer simply because the people here saying he's done were the same people saying he was done in 2021 and laughing at me.
So I'll stick with my guns for now.
Who are these people?
I was basically the only person here at the peak of Johnson predicting he'd not last and Labour would win. I'm not sure if you were one of the people laughing but there were certainly a large number calling my predictions ridiculous.
Of course I also predicted a Corbyn win in 2019 so you can't win them all.
A stopped clock is right twice a day. If you just always say the party you vote for is going to win, and repeat it constantly, that doesn’t show any insight, it’s just noise
I've learned from the best.
Passive aggressive nonsense again
You obviously mean me, but I don’t always say the party I am voting for is going to win, so you’re passively aggressively bang wrong. And I understand betting.
Sam I was one of the people here most trying to get you to be unbanned as I thought it unfair. Be careful where you're throwing that fire.
I understand betting just as much as you.
I very much doubt both of those statements!
I haven't been banned for about three years anyway, what are you talking about?
Horse was very keen for your return be that you were on an enforced holiday or a voluntary one. Obviously there were a fair number of your more obvious supporters demanding your return too. Fair play to them all.
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
I don't disagree. Since the election it has been a one way barrage against Starmer and co. I don't think it's been that fair to be honest, but I suspect that is the sign of the times.
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
Are you seriously trying to claim the press (or PB) are unfair on Starmer, because they were nicer to the Tories? Really???
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
I don't think Starmer ever expected to be PM when he went into politics. And, if it hadn't been for the bog Corbyn made, or was said by the twitterati to have made, of things sometimes, Starmer might have ended up as a competent Attorney General or Roy Jenkins-like Home Secretary. IMHO, for what little it is worth, I think Ed Miliband should have stayed in post after 2015. He might well have defeated May in 2017.
Burnham maybe, Ed Miliband no
You may be right about Burnham but I really don't see him now coming back to Parliament unless it's to the HoL. Same with Sadiq Khan. It's only in the recent past, though, that defeated leaders have abandoned the job after a GE. Heath didn't, nor Wilson, nor most other leaders going back though Attlee, Churchill to pre-war.
DOGE has cut US non-defence spending by slightly more than 20% so far. That's about 0.7% of GDP. Will be interesting to see how much of this spending the next president re-introduces.
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Oh, I know. And GM - or at least its southern half - is definitely improving and improving. But from, it must be conceded, a desperately low base. I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
Gail's in Greater Manchester is definitely an example of "levelling up", so: go Manchester
Returning to King's Cross, as I did last night, was simultaneously enlivening and saddening. It was nice because it is such a buzzy youthful place, and such a brilliant example of urban redevelopment (and it really is, town planners come from across the world to see it, and be inspired)
However it is also saddening because
1. We didn't do it everywhere in London, let alone the UK, and many other developments are decidedly worse
and
2. It feels so Blairite. It oozes the sunny optimism of, say, 1999 or 2006, when Britain was booming and things really could only get better
Sigh
Interesting you should raise King's Cross. With government currently (extremely half-heartedly) looking at new high-speed-ish lines to Manchester (Liverpool-Manchester (and on to Leeds?) and son-of-HS2), GM is uaing Kings Cross as an exenplar of what could be done at Piccadilly. The back of Piccadilly ia currently low-grade-industrial and a red light area, but the pressure for development is immense. But government's proposal is that the new line should emerge from a tunnel a mile south of Manchester and arrive on railway viaducts - thereby sterilising most of the area. GM wants to keep the new railway underground and have a through station (cf Thameslink) and develop the site (cf Kings Cross). At Select Committee in 2023, the HS2 witness pointed out that you could have community centres under railway viaducts. That appears to be the height of government ambition for the north. Largely, they see us as one big council estate.
I really like the idea of linking all the great northern cities together, Liverpool to Leeds, into one great mighty conurbation - big enough to rival London. Do it with intense local transport links, bridges and tunnels, trams and trains, knit it all into one megacity run by one authority
That would be great for the north and great for the UK, somewhere to balance London. Make this neo-greater-Manchester the northern capital of Britain
Britain is small, compact and densely populated. We need to turn this to our advantage. The absurd disaster of HS2 is an example of us doing the opposite. Britain is so small we don't actually need genuinely high speed trains. 100mph is fine. Just build more capacity
HS2 did both. It freed up line capacity for both freight and passengers.
Starmer's failure to resurrect HS2 will forever be an albatross around his neck. In the late 1950s, 60s and 70s we built thousands of miles of motorway from scratch. Today we can't even get 80 miles of track from Birmingham to Manchester and another hundred from Birmingham to Leeds and over thirty years. And the biggest irony is we've been charged hundreds of millions of pounds to knock it on the head before a shovel hit the soil.
The thought that freight is a thing companies are crying out for is laughable, road transport is much cheaper for most
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Oh, I know. And GM - or at least its southern half - is definitely improving and improving. But from, it must be conceded, a desperately low base. I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
Gail's in Greater Manchester is definitely an example of "levelling up", so: go Manchester
Returning to King's Cross, as I did last night, was simultaneously enlivening and saddening. It was nice because it is such a buzzy youthful place, and such a brilliant example of urban redevelopment (and it really is, town planners come from across the world to see it, and be inspired)
However it is also saddening because
1. We didn't do it everywhere in London, let alone the UK, and many other developments are decidedly worse
and
2. It feels so Blairite. It oozes the sunny optimism of, say, 1999 or 2006, when Britain was booming and things really could only get better
Sigh
Interesting you should raise King's Cross. With government currently (extremely half-heartedly) looking at new high-speed-ish lines to Manchester (Liverpool-Manchester (and on to Leeds?) and son-of-HS2), GM is uaing Kings Cross as an exenplar of what could be done at Piccadilly. The back of Piccadilly ia currently low-grade-industrial and a red light area, but the pressure for development is immense. But government's proposal is that the new line should emerge from a tunnel a mile south of Manchester and arrive on railway viaducts - thereby sterilising most of the area. GM wants to keep the new railway underground and have a through station (cf Thameslink) and develop the site (cf Kings Cross). At Select Committee in 2023, the HS2 witness pointed out that you could have community centres under railway viaducts. That appears to be the height of government ambition for the north. Largely, they see us as one big council estate.
I really like the idea of linking all the great northern cities together, Liverpool to Leeds, into one great mighty conurbation - big enough to rival London. Do it with intense local transport links, bridges and tunnels, trams and trains, knit it all into one megacity run by one authority
That would be great for the north and great for the UK, somewhere to balance London. Make this neo-greater-Manchester the northern capital of Britain
Britain is small, compact and densely populated. We need to turn this to our advantage. The absurd disaster of HS2 is an example of us doing the opposite. Britain is so small we don't actually need genuinely high speed trains. 100mph is fine. Just build more capacity
HS2 did both. It freed up line capacity for both freight and passengers.
Starmer's failure to resurrect HS2 will forever be an albatross around his neck. In the late 1950s, 60s and 70s we built thousands of miles of motorway from scratch. Today we can't even get 80 miles of track from Birmingham to Manchester and another hundred from Birmingham to Leeds and over thirty years. And the biggest irony is we've been charged hundreds of millions of pounds to knock it on the head before a shovel hit the soil.
You misconstrue me. I agree we needed new capacity, the problem is a lot of rail geeks then came in and said Oh let's make it go faster than light and build fantastic new stations and gold plate everything. We just needed new capacity, we didn't need 300kph. Of course there were many other problems - insane environmental laws, our pitiful planning system, nervous cavilling governments - but this was definitely one of the major issues
It is tragic and it is emblematic of how Britain has gone wrong. Even as I type this I am staring at the rails out of Euston and there is a massive crane right by the tracks, it is there to build HS2. About once a fortnight it moves a bit, then it stops again. It has been there for YEARS
What's the latest bill? £100bn and upwards? And it won't arrive until the late 2030s? What a catastrophe (and the Tories are easily as reponsible as Labour, indeed probably worse)
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
How well I remember the PB paeans to Bastani during his Corbynite phase.
Isn't the SNP itself on a rightward journey from the united colours of male rapists in womens' prisons era into the age of the wee frees, via a grey and soon to be forgotten Swinney interregnum?
But sure as eggs is eggs Yoons will be raging at the SNP regardless of what stage of a ‘journey’ they’re on, so that’s one constant we can all rely on.
Swinney did vote against the assisted dying bill and worked for Scottish Life Assurance, of all the SNP FMs in my lifetime he looks the most like a Tory. I still wouldn't vote SNP however
Why not; you've voted Plaid Cymru in the past and I'd say they were slightly at least to the left of the SNP.
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
He's ok. But no doesn't "tell the truth as he sees it". He just tries to get attention.
You are such a hapless dork. But it's OK. There's room for dorks, even a need for them, sometimes
A wise dork actually. As in being wise to the MO of these opinion mongers. It's about gaining and monetising attention not (lol) "telling the truth as they see it".
You're saying that about this particular monger purely because he's saying stuff here that you happen to like.
No, I'm not. I admire people who look at something and offer an unexpected worldview, it shows they are REALLY thinking
Here's an opposing example. Jacob Rees Mogg says we should bring back Shamima Begum, as she is our responsibility
I couldn't disagree more. My opinion of Ms Begum is that we should hand her over to be tried by the Kurds or Yazidis - as they were her victims - and if they decide to execute her, so be it. It is their choice. Whatever. She is despicable
Nonetheless I admire JRM for adopting a highly unexpected opinion and arguing it logically. He made me think again, even if in the end I still disagree with him, vehemently
You're just virtue signaling. JRM didn't for one second make you reconsider about Begum. In general, straining to be different and "unexpected" does not map to free intelligent thinking.
Yep, you're still tedious
You dislike being sussed, don't you. Get irritated.
And yet I am right, aren't I? You haven't had an original thought in 30 years and you haven't changed your opinion since you were 21. Sometimes this reality is visible on your tiny radar of self-awareness, and it vaguely troubles you, yet you're not sure why, so you look away, and forget about it. Like someone ignoring a malignant symptom
And then you trot out the same opinions again
Projection. It's very rare for you to opine anything that isn't generic to the speccie tendency on the right.
DOGE has cut US non-defence spending by slightly more than 20% so far. That's about 0.7% of GDP. Will be interesting to see how much of this spending the next president re-introduces.
Is that DOGE’s figure or a real number?
It is DOGE's completely fake number.
US Government spending is actually 6% higher right now compared to last year.
A glorious day in Wythenshawe and Sale East, which on current polling is going Reform next time round.
You have Gail's in..... the north?
That means you have sourdough. In Manchester??? And flat whites. And things like that
This is upsetting, and - quite frankly I don't believe it. This is faked
It's a Northern Gail's. Inside, they mainly sell tripe and other offal-related products.
Ah. Thankyou. Order is restored
I am also reassured that your photo, despite the sunshine, still manages to convey a hint of northern bleakness. I'm not sure what it is. The stolid red brick on the right, the slightly depressing clutter of metal, it's hard to pin down, but nonetheless something in that photo says "yes it's post-industrial northern England and yes, despite the sun and the Gail's, it's shit"
It's Manchester 33 - GM's fourth most expensive postcode. But Sale Town Centre is still no better than all right, considering. That clutter of metal is a right bloody nuisance for pedestrians - I may get @MattW on the case. I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
You know I am only teasing. I admire your fierce loyalty to your region, and a couple of your photos of booming Manchester have kinda persuaded me to take a look. I need to see
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Oh, I know. And GM - or at least its southern half - is definitely improving and improving. But from, it must be conceded, a desperately low base. I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
Gail's in Greater Manchester is definitely an example of "levelling up", so: go Manchester
Returning to King's Cross, as I did last night, was simultaneously enlivening and saddening. It was nice because it is such a buzzy youthful place, and such a brilliant example of urban redevelopment (and it really is, town planners come from across the world to see it, and be inspired)
However it is also saddening because
1. We didn't do it everywhere in London, let alone the UK, and many other developments are decidedly worse
and
2. It feels so Blairite. It oozes the sunny optimism of, say, 1999 or 2006, when Britain was booming and things really could only get better
Sigh
Interesting you should raise King's Cross. With government currently (extremely half-heartedly) looking at new high-speed-ish lines to Manchester (Liverpool-Manchester (and on to Leeds?) and son-of-HS2), GM is uaing Kings Cross as an exenplar of what could be done at Piccadilly. The back of Piccadilly ia currently low-grade-industrial and a red light area, but the pressure for development is immense. But government's proposal is that the new line should emerge from a tunnel a mile south of Manchester and arrive on railway viaducts - thereby sterilising most of the area. GM wants to keep the new railway underground and have a through station (cf Thameslink) and develop the site (cf Kings Cross). At Select Committee in 2023, the HS2 witness pointed out that you could have community centres under railway viaducts. That appears to be the height of government ambition for the north. Largely, they see us as one big council estate.
I really like the idea of linking all the great northern cities together, Liverpool to Leeds, into one great mighty conurbation - big enough to rival London. Do it with intense local transport links, bridges and tunnels, trams and trains, knit it all into one megacity run by one authority
That would be great for the north and great for the UK, somewhere to balance London. Make this neo-greater-Manchester the northern capital of Britain
Britain is small, compact and densely populated. We need to turn this to our advantage. The absurd disaster of HS2 is an example of us doing the opposite. Britain is so small we don't actually need genuinely high speed trains. 100mph is fine. Just build more capacity
HS2 did both. It freed up line capacity for both freight and passengers.
Starmer's failure to resurrect HS2 will forever be an albatross around his neck. In the late 1950s, 60s and 70s we built thousands of miles of motorway from scratch. Today we can't even get 80 miles of track from Birmingham to Manchester and another hundred from Birmingham to Leeds and over thirty years. And the biggest irony is we've been charged hundreds of millions of pounds to knock it on the head before a shovel hit the soil.
You misconstrue me. I agree we needed new capacity, the problem is a lot of rail geeks then came in and said Oh let's make it go faster than light and build fantastic new stations and gold plate everything. We just needed new capacity, we didn't need 300kph. Of course there were many other problems - insane environmental laws, our pitiful planning system, nervous cavilling governments - but this was definitely one of the major issues
It is tragic and it is emblematic of how Britain has gone wrong. Even as I type this I am staring at the rails out of Euston and there is a massive crane right by the tracks, it is there to build HS2. About once a fortnight it moves a bit, then it stops again. It has been there for YEARS
What's the latest bill? £100bn and upwards? And it won't arrive until the late 2030s? What a catastrophe (and the Tories are easily as reponsible as Labour, indeed probably worse)
Well, what's in a letter - if that S for speed had just been a C for capacity perhaps things would have been different.
Your idea of interlinking the northern cities is good - do it with Elizabeth line style tube trains.
It isn't enough for an area to be posh to have a Gail's, it has to be at least slightly woke as well. In the south of England, these two criteria are pretty much one and the same thing, but it isn't necessarily true in the rest of the country. There are some areas near here that are pretty wealthy but not woke, and they don't have Gail's.
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
How well I remember the PB paeans to Bastani during his Corbynite phase.
Isn't the SNP itself on a rightward journey from the united colours of male rapists in womens' prisons era into the age of the wee frees, via a grey and soon to be forgotten Swinney interregnum?
But sure as eggs is eggs Yoons will be raging at the SNP regardless of what stage of a ‘journey’ they’re on, so that’s one constant we can all rely on.
Swinney did vote against the assisted dying bill and worked for Scottish Life Assurance, of all the SNP FMs in my lifetime he looks the most like a Tory. I still wouldn't vote SNP however
The assisted dying bill was a free vote. Politicians of all parties, except the Greens, had members voting both for and against. It’s not an issue decided by party politics, anywhere in the UK, so I don’t understand why you used it as an example.
It isn't enough for an area to be posh to have a Gail's, it has to be at least slightly woke as well. In the south of England, these two criteria are pretty much one and the same thing, but it isn't necessarily true in the rest of the country. There are some areas near here that are pretty wealthy but not woke, and they don't have Gail's.
Really striking that Reform are doing a number of things the Labour establishment denigrated:
1) They want to build a mass member party
2) They have lots of rallies.
3) They see the value in offline social spaces (a reform pub?!)
4) They want a pipeline from youth activism.
Bastani seems to be tip-toeing towards Reform.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
It is so typical of you to see it in that way. You cannot possibly accept that Bastani is open-minded and intelligent and therefore takes things as he sees them, and tells the truth as he views it, even if it is "uncomfortable" for the Woke Left
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
How well I remember the PB paeans to Bastani during his Corbynite phase.
Isn't the SNP itself on a rightward journey from the united colours of male rapists in womens' prisons era into the age of the wee frees, via a grey and soon to be forgotten Swinney interregnum?
But sure as eggs is eggs Yoons will be raging at the SNP regardless of what stage of a ‘journey’ they’re on, so that’s one constant we can all rely on.
Comments
I've usedup my quota now but tomorrow I may post a slightly more edifying pic of Sale which still manages to be a bit post-industrial.
Whatever pays the rent, I suppose.
The one the other day with the nice Dutch-ish new houses and the towers was, eg, quite cheering. It is cheering to think that some parts of the UK are NOT in terrible decline
Quite frankly, Labour would be doing vastly better if they had seven hundred Aaron Bastanis as MPs and wonks and activists, rather than the utter shower of wankers they have at the moment
However I take issue with the idea no one walks on the canal. Are you kidding?? The walk from Camden Lock to King;s Cross is always buzzing, even in winter, and in summer as you get near either end it is often overcrowded. It is also a truly fascinating walk, sometimes intensely picuresque with houseboats, sometimes desolately post industrial, sometimes full of weird history (Old Pancras church!) but always hugely interesting - London at its best
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lpeqwy37v225
Was this one of this kidnappings where they take you at gunpoint from ATM to ATM and drain all your bank accounts?
That happened to a guy I met in Mexico City. An American. He was sitting at the hotel bar necking enormous amounts of whisky and still trembling with fear (this was the day after the horror). He told me they'd also kept his girlfriend at gunpoint in their room, threatening to rape or kill her if he didn't give them every cent
After he told me his horrifying story he said "I am never fucking coming back to fucking Mexico" and I didn't dispute his logic
That's Starmeresque for: I've given the EU absolutely everything they've wanted, and more.
Shit deal - incoming..
You want people like that in your movement, open minded young intelligent and willing to have their minds changed by reality. What you don't want is tedious midwit ideologues like @kinabalu who haven't had an original thought in 30 years and haven't changed their opinions since they were 21. These dull people are deadly for a political party. They spell doom
I am in Gail's now, as it happens. Turns out its quite nice. They're out of tripe so I have settled for a coffee and a croissant.
His executive order on drug prices is essentially the same thing, with him threatening to unleash the power of various federal agencies (HHS, DOJ, FTC etc) on those drug manufacturers who fail to reduce prices.
It's a good precedent for a future Democratic President to use to conduct his or her own pressure campaign against corporations.
"Sell your stuff at a loss, or else"
He's mental
Returning to King's Cross, as I did last night, was simultaneously enlivening and saddening. It was nice because it is such a buzzy youthful place, and such a brilliant example of urban redevelopment (and it really is, town planners come from across the world to see it, and be inspired)
However it is also saddening because
1. We didn't do it everywhere in London, let alone the UK, and many other developments are decidedly worse
and
2. It feels so Blairite. It oozes the sunny optimism of, say, 1999 or 2006, when Britain was booming and things really could only get better
Sigh
You're saying that about this particular monger purely because he's saying stuff here that you happen to like.
Three Iranian men accused of spying in the UK ‘arrived in the country in lorries and small boats’
You asked earlier who were the Starmer nay sayers way back before the Hartlepool by election. There was a common theme on here then poking fun at Starmer's perceived incompetence. He was called Brittas, Captain Hindsight, Mr Indecisive, Sir Fence Sitter. They then moved on to Kid Starver, Granny Starver, Two Tier Keir, Free Gear Kier.and now flip flop.
I am not here to defend Starmer. I think he is a poor politician. However it does seem odd that Farage doesn't get the same vitriol thrown at him in opposition that Starmer did, despite being a complete barsteward.
Basic physics.
Here's an opposing example. Jacob Rees Mogg says we should bring back Shamima Begum, as she is our responsibility
https://www.ft.com/content/dcc420ce-88ac-4288-a0bf-e71dbb119725
I couldn't disagree more. My opinion of Ms Begum is that we should hand her over to be tried by the Kurds or Yazidis - as they were her victims - and if they decide to execute her, so be it. It is their choice. Whatever. She is despicable
Nonetheless I admire JRM for adopting a highly unexpected opinion and arguing it logically. He made me think again, even if in the end I still disagree with him, vehemently
I am not a labour supporter btw, but it has been very obvious.
I WILL BE SPEAKING, BY TELEPHONE, TO PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN OF RUSSIA ON MONDAY, AT 10:00 A.M. THE SUBJECTS OF THE CALL WILL BE, STOPPING THE "BLOODBATH" THAT IS KILLING, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN 5000 RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS A WEEK, AND TRADE. I WILL THEN BE SPEAKING TO PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY OF UKRAINE AND THEN, WITH PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY, VARIOUS MEMBERS OF NATO. HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END. GOD BLESS US ALL!!!
And you reckon I'm tedious.
I'd file that cost-benefit analysis amongst all the other times that the public has been asked to 'invest' and bear 'short term costs' for 'long term gain', except it appears that that particular bin is full.
Starmer gets intense grief because he has made unforced error after unforced error, starting from day 1 (the free lingerie and designer spectacles), and he is - it turns out - politically inept, wooden on TV, very poor at speaking, devoid of ideas, devoid of charisma, and fantastically bad at making deals
Take just one recent example. He went to Albania expecting to announce a new Rwanda-lite deal with Albania, where they would take boat people. But he was humiliated on live TV when the Albanian PM said, Nope, that's not happening, with Starmer standing by his side, blushing furiously
How does a UK PM get into these pickles? It is basic and shocking political incompetence, an inability to "do" politics, and Starmer makes these errors all the time. He deserves all the criticism he gets. Soz
You realise that it's the difference in elevation - and the relative lack of atmospheric IR scattering - that makes the feel of the weather there fundamentally different ?
A lot of it is from embittered rivals on your own side. Up to now, Farage hasn't really had to deal with those, because he hasn't had any. He has been head-and-shoulders the only big beast on the populist right for years. We're seeing a bit of pushback from Rupert Lowe, but who is he, really? The Conservatives really ought to have gone full-on studs-up on Farage long ago, before he started eating their lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, coffee and After Eight mints. For various reasons, they didn't.
Another big slice is from your opponents. And one of the strange things about the British left is how hand-wringy they are about proper vulgar abuse.
Probably more importantly, vitriol only really sticks if the public are annoyed with something a politician has done. And, for all the noise he has made, all he has dragged others in his direction, Farage has never actually run anything, never had to take an actual decision. That is politics on easy mode.
I was merely pointing out - in a colourful way - that this spell of weather feels a little odd, for southern England. Bright endless Maytime sunshine - but the ambient temps must be low as it is so cold in the shade, and there are chilly breezes too (the wind is from the north, albeit light)
It reminds me of the weather in lockdown 1, which turned into a grey summer. Hopefully not the case this time
IMHO, for what little it is worth, I think Ed Miliband should have stayed in post after 2015. He might well have defeated May in 2017.
Democratic Presidents have been frustrated for a long time at being unable to do anything meaningful to help less well-off Americans because nothing gets passed in the Senate. They haven't used the power of the Presidency to pressure Corporations because of a desire to obey norms.
A future President Pritzker or President AOC can now use Trump's precedents as a useful stick with which to beat Corporations on things like price gouging.
The 5 MPs thing is a bit of a red herring, they got 4m votes, which is many more than the Lib Dems or the Greens. If it was a genuine two party system and one of the parties won every constituency by one vote, would you expect blanket coverage of them and none of the party that finished 650 votes and seats behind them?
With government currently (extremely half-heartedly) looking at new high-speed-ish lines to Manchester (Liverpool-Manchester (and on to Leeds?) and son-of-HS2), GM is uaing Kings Cross as an exenplar of what could be done at Piccadilly. The back of Piccadilly ia currently low-grade-industrial and a red light area, but the pressure for development is immense. But government's proposal is that the new line should emerge from a tunnel a mile south of Manchester and arrive on railway viaducts - thereby sterilising most of the area. GM wants to keep the new railway underground and have a through station (cf Thameslink) and develop the site (cf Kings Cross).
At Select Committee in 2023, the HS2 witness pointed out that you could have community centres under railway viaducts. That appears to be the height of government ambition for the north. Largely, they see us as one big council estate.
A lot of things had to happen, one after the other, to get him into Downing Street. Then it was on the basis that the alternatives were all even worse... and that still broadly applies.
That would be great for the north and great for the UK, somewhere to balance London. Make this neo-greater-Manchester the northern capital of Britain
Britain is small, compact and densely populated. We need to turn this to our advantage. The absurd disaster of HS2 is an example of us doing the opposite. Britain is so small we don't actually need genuinely high speed trains. 100mph is fine. Just build more capacity
I'm very impressed by the cycling, must have been brutal but beautiful.
It reminded me of the calm, considered way the same people accepted losing the EU Referendum
And then you trot out the same opinions again
This is the big elephant in the room. Transport investment in provincial England does not deliver the same benefit-cost as it does in countries with densely populated cities. Manchester is turning towards that model, slowly...
RefUK 30.2%
Lab 22.5%
Con 18.0%
LD 14.5%
Grn 9.0%
SNP 2.8%
PC 0.6%
Oth 2.5%
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election#2025
Sorted.
Starmer's failure to resurrect HS2 will forever be an albatross around his neck. In the late 1950s, 60s and 70s we built thousands of miles of motorway from scratch. Today we can't even get 80 miles of track from Birmingham to Manchester and another hundred from Birmingham to Leeds and over thirty years. And the biggest irony is we've been charged hundreds of millions of pounds to knock it on the head before a shovel hit the soil.
(Although there does seem to be a very gradual shift towards reality in their stated views)
It's only in the recent past, though, that defeated leaders have abandoned the job after a GE. Heath didn't, nor Wilson, nor most other leaders going back though Attlee, Churchill to pre-war.
It is tragic and it is emblematic of how Britain has gone wrong. Even as I type this I am staring at the rails out of Euston and there is a massive crane right by the tracks, it is there to build HS2. About once a fortnight it moves a bit, then it stops again. It has been there for YEARS
What's the latest bill? £100bn and upwards? And it won't arrive until the late 2030s? What a catastrophe (and the Tories are easily as reponsible as Labour, indeed probably worse)
I'm a flake by comparison.
US Government spending is actually 6% higher right now compared to last year.
https://fortune.com/2025/04/30/elon-musk-doge-government-spending-risen-trump-first-100-days/
Your idea of interlinking the northern cities is good - do it with Elizabeth line style tube trains.