Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Take the effing thing into public ownership, and drive the hardest possible bargain with debt holders by threatening receivership.
It would provide a salutary lesson for the rest of the industry - and might even end up bring a profitable deal for government.
Don't take it into public ownership before it goes into receivership, if you do that then taxpayers will be liable to the bondholders since we'll have taken on the obligations of ownership.
Let it go into administration and buy the assets at pennies on the pound if nobody else does after its gone into receivership.
Exactly. Have an OFWAT equivalent of the DfT's OLR - a management team ready to step in and operate the business once it fails. Thames Water's staff aren't affected, but senior management and the investors depart immediately.
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I had a voucher and called in at Toby for breakfast after parkrun the other week. It wasn't very good, Wetherspoons are better (and cheaper). The novelty was being able to have Yorkshire pudding and gravy with breakfast
Have to agree about 'Spoons despite their reputation. Their staff get share options which tends to focus the mind somewhat.
Their breakfasts are good and cheap, and you can have unlimited coffee for a couple of pounds extra from very good barista machines which Wetherspoons must have spent a lot of money on.
They have unfortunately taken all the grills off the menu, apparently they couldn't make a profit at the price they charge and didn't think there was any room to increase it.
I don't tend to frequent Spoons myself as we have so many other good pub options locally, including our local, Skehans, London's best pub (Timeout, 2023). However, my 18yo daughter, being a cash-strapped youngster, is a devotee. The young people love the Brockley Barge.
I used to go to our Spoons on a fairly frequent basis on a Friday evening. Fish and chips and a couple of pints and then maybe on to another place for later beers.
But I got sick of the queues for beer.
I gather now they have an app and you can order from your table but i haven't been and tried it.
Take the effing thing into public ownership, and drive the hardest possible bargain with debt holders by threatening receivership.
It would provide a salutary lesson for the rest of the industry - and might even end up bring a profitable deal for government.
Don't take it into public ownership before it goes into receivership, if you do that then taxpayers will be liable to the bondholders since we'll have taken on the obligations of ownership.
Let it go into administration and buy the assets at pennies on the pound if nobody else does after its gone into receivership.
Exactly. Have an OFWAT equivalent of the DfT's OLR - a management team ready to step in and operate the business once it fails. Thames Water's staff aren't affected, but senior management and the investors depart immediately.
This does not need any change in regulations or law, its already they law today that this is what happens if they go bust.
They're not too big to fail. If they fail, they fail, goodbye.
Take the effing thing into public ownership, and drive the hardest possible bargain with debt holders by threatening receivership.
It would provide a salutary lesson for the rest of the industry - and might even end up bring a profitable deal for government.
Don't take it into public ownership before it goes into receivership, if you do that then taxpayers will be liable to the bondholders since we'll have taken on the obligations of ownership.
Let it go into administration and buy the assets at pennies on the pound if nobody else does after its gone into receivership.
Exactly. Have an OFWAT equivalent of the DfT's OLR - a management team ready to step in and operate the business once it fails. Thames Water's staff aren't affected, but senior management and the investors depart immediately.
I don’t think I’ve heard of a worse idea in a long time - mainly because OFWAT are the idiots who failed to do their job for 15+ years and allowed the disaster that is Thames Water’s finances to be created
I agree that politicians are partly to blame: but the media need to shoulder more of the blame. They are always looking for gotchas or simple soundbites. Perhaps that's because that is what the public's attention span can handle; or perhaps it is simply because it is easier for the media.
It's particularly galling as many politicians and parties agree on the problems; and their proposed solutions are not miles apart, but they need to appear different so they can attack their opponents' ideas. Also, because many of the simple lies told by populists fall apart under even moderate scrutiny. But the media does not give them that scrutiny, preferring the soundbites.
We have been told for years, decades even, that military procurement is grossly inefficient and wastes billions. It should, then, be possible to buy more things that go bang without increasing spending.
We have been told the same of Whitehall, and the public sector generally. It is hard to blame the public for cakeism when this is the snake oil they have been sold. All we need do is cut out the waste. Bring in the private sector to make the NHS more efficient. Not water, obviously.
Right now, ministers are receiving a tidal wave of paper on how bad an idea letting Thames Water go bankrupt is. Domestic and international repercussions. Etc etc.
“The sensible, but tough decision, minister, is to bale them out.”
There are no repercussions from letting a failed business go into administration.
That's why the system exists. It is the market working as intended.
Don't want to go into administration? Do a better job then!
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I had a voucher and called in at Toby for breakfast after parkrun the other week. It wasn't very good, Wetherspoons are better (and cheaper). The novelty was being able to have Yorkshire pudding and gravy with breakfast
Have to agree about 'Spoons despite their reputation. Their staff get share options which tends to focus the mind somewhat.
Their breakfasts are good and cheap, and you can have unlimited coffee for a couple of pounds extra from very good barista machines which Wetherspoons must have spent a lot of money on.
They have unfortunately taken all the grills off the menu, apparently they couldn't make a profit at the price they charge and didn't think there was any room to increase it.
I don't tend to frequent Spoons myself as we have so many other good pub options locally, including our local, Skehans, London's best pub (Timeout, 2023). However, my 18yo daughter, being a cash-strapped youngster, is a devotee. The young people love the Brockley Barge.
I used to go to our Spoons on a fairly frequent basis on a Friday evening. Fish and chips and a couple of pints and then maybe on to another place for later beers.
But I got sick of the queues for beer.
I gather now they have an app and you can order from your table but i haven't been and tried it.
Oh the app makes it completely hassle free.
I don’t go often but if Mrs Eek wants to eat something (and she has limited options for “reasons”) - Wetherspoons do an acceptable chicken dish with a pint of Leffe for £8.70 or so and nowhere else is going to match that deal
Take the effing thing into public ownership, and drive the hardest possible bargain with debt holders by threatening receivership.
It would provide a salutary lesson for the rest of the industry - and might even end up bring a profitable deal for government.
Don't take it into public ownership before it goes into receivership, if you do that then taxpayers will be liable to the bondholders since we'll have taken on the obligations of ownership.
Let it go into administration and buy the assets at pennies on the pound if nobody else does after its gone into receivership.
Exactly. Have an OFWAT equivalent of the DfT's OLR - a management team ready to step in and operate the business once it fails. Thames Water's staff aren't affected, but senior management and the investors depart immediately.
I don’t think I’ve heard of a worse idea in a long time - mainly because OFWAT are the idiots who failed to do their job for 15+ years and allowed the disaster that is Thames Water’s finances to be created
And OFWAT is run at the government's behest. So run it out of DEFRA. Just as bad.
He'd have more fun in Saudi. You know where I stand on the team - clear absolutely all of the senior players out. Let Amorin build his team from a few ringers and the academy. Pointless pretending this lot can play for anyone, never mind his system.
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
The Grand Electric Hall in Spennymoor does fantastic breakfasts, and The Water End Barn, in St. Alban’s, is fine.
Other ‘Spoons venues are not so good.
When it comes to food, my tastes are quite coarse. I enjoy much German food, unlike virtually everybody. Tasty and plentiful appeals to me more than fine dining.
Take the effing thing into public ownership, and drive the hardest possible bargain with debt holders by threatening receivership.
It would provide a salutary lesson for the rest of the industry - and might even end up bring a profitable deal for government.
Don't take it into public ownership before it goes into receivership, if you do that then taxpayers will be liable to the bondholders since we'll have taken on the obligations of ownership.
Let it go into administration and buy the assets at pennies on the pound if nobody else does after its gone into receivership.
Exactly. Have an OFWAT equivalent of the DfT's OLR - a management team ready to step in and operate the business once it fails. Thames Water's staff aren't affected, but senior management and the investors depart immediately.
This does not need any change in regulations or law, its already they law today that this is what happens if they go bust.
They're not too big to fail. If they fail, they fail, goodbye.
And taxpayers pick up the pieces as the Thames Water area is nationalised
Interestingly Conservative voters are the most supportive not only of spending cuts but also higher taxes to fund defence
They are also the most supportive of making cuts in other areas of public spending to fund defence expenditure. Needless to say, no one asked them which areas should be cut - ending the Triple Lock perhaps?
Very much the end of times it would seem. For the second time in as many days, I find myself agreeing with a @BartholomewRoberts post.
There's nothing wrong with Toby Carvery - yes, the snobs don't get it. It's not The Ivy and doesn't pretend to be but I've never had a duff meal in my local (Snaresbrook).
Some may feel a Yorkshire Pudding for breakfast is an idea ahead of its time and I have some sympathy with that view and when you go "large" you never fill your plate with extraneous Yorkies. Indeed, I have a friend who took up learning physics to see how much they could pile on their plate and the best way of usuing gravity to their advantage.
You can also quickly tell those who've played Tetris in their youth.
Saturdays are the best day becasue they have roast lamb - a little bit of reconnaissance required to see when a new joint appears and then up you go.
The Carvery Yorkshire Pudding is a Capitalist Cost Control Device, designed to occupy as much of the medium sized plate as possible with hot air, so that the practically deliverable amount of the more expensive ingredients is subtly limited. It bears some resemblance to a political speech.
The mitigation strategy is an evolved version of the "row of cucumber slices to extend the size of the small salad bowl in Pizza Hut" technique. This is now redundant due to unlimited salads.
Take the effing thing into public ownership, and drive the hardest possible bargain with debt holders by threatening receivership.
It would provide a salutary lesson for the rest of the industry - and might even end up bring a profitable deal for government.
Don't take it into public ownership before it goes into receivership, if you do that then taxpayers will be liable to the bondholders since we'll have taken on the obligations of ownership.
Let it go into administration and buy the assets at pennies on the pound if nobody else does after its gone into receivership.
Exactly. Have an OFWAT equivalent of the DfT's OLR - a management team ready to step in and operate the business once it fails. Thames Water's staff aren't affected, but senior management and the investors depart immediately.
This does not need any change in regulations or law, its already they law today that this is what happens if they go bust.
They're not too big to fail. If they fail, they fail, goodbye.
And taxpayers pick up the pieces as the Thames Water area is nationalised
The beauty of picking up pieces is you only need to pick the pieces you want, discarding the rest.
The underlying business, sans debt, is highly profitable.
If it goes into administration and the bondholders are wiped out, then there's a profitable and sustainable business there to pick up which can either be a cash cow, or re-privatised.
Taxpayers money shouldn't go to bailout bondholders.
Very much the end of times it would seem. For the second time in as many days, I find myself agreeing with a @BartholomewRoberts post.
There's nothing wrong with Toby Carvery - yes, the snobs don't get it. It's not The Ivy and doesn't pretend to be but I've never had a duff meal in my local (Snaresbrook).
Some may feel a Yorkshire Pudding for breakfast is an idea ahead of its time and I have some sympathy with that view and when you go "large" you never fill your plate with extraneous Yorkies. Indeed, I have a friend who took up learning physics to see how much they could pile on their plate and the best way of usuing gravity to their advantage.
You can also quickly tell those who've played Tetris in their youth.
Saturdays are the best day becasue they have roast lamb - a little bit of reconnaissance required to see when a new joint appears and then up you go.
The Carvery Yorkshire Pudding is a Capitalist Cost Control Device, designed to occupy as much of the medium sized plate as possible with hot air, so that the practically deliverable amount of the more expensive ingredients is subtly limited. It bears some resemblance to a political speech.
The mitigation strategy is an evolved version of the "row of cucumber slices to extend the size of the small salad bowl in Pizza Hut" technique. This is now redundant due to unlimited salads.
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
Breakfasts and curries are the things to have at Wetherspoons.
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
The Grand Electric Hall in Spennymoor does fantastic breakfasts, and The Water End Barn, in St. Alban’s, is fine.
Other ‘Spoons venues are not so good.
When it comes to food, my tastes are quite coarse. I enjoy much German food, unlike virtually everybody. Tasty and plentiful appeals to me more than fine dining.
But it’s not even tasty. I’m here in German speaking Luxembourg surrounded by German food and it’s fucking horrible
Last night they even managed to fuck up a posh burger. How can you fuck up a posh burger???
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
The Grand Electric Hall in Spennymoor does fantastic breakfasts, and The Water End Barn, in St. Alban’s, is fine.
Other ‘Spoons venues are not so good.
When it comes to food, my tastes are quite coarse. I enjoy much German food, unlike virtually everybody. Tasty and plentiful appeals to me more than fine dining.
But it’s not even tasty. I’m here in German speaking Luxembourg surrounded by German food and it’s fucking horrible
Last night they even managed to fuck up a posh burger. How can you fuck up a posh burger???
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
You are right. I quite like the breakfasts, they are about average some cafes are worse, some better. You can't guarantee better without paying twice as much. I quite like the chicken wings or shawarma wrap for a snack and they do OK fish and chips, which is something a lot of pubs do badly for twice the price (when you have factored in the cost of a pint). But generally their food is poor and has got worse as they remove some of the better dishes from the menu. It is now heavily burger-based, and I am old enough not to regard a burger as real food.
My local does a rotating selection of good real ales at £2.78 a pint though, cheaper on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I will continue to frequent them, particularly because it is by far and away the best pub in the town centre for cask beer
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
The Grand Electric Hall in Spennymoor does fantastic breakfasts, and The Water End Barn, in St. Alban’s, is fine.
Other ‘Spoons venues are not so good.
When it comes to food, my tastes are quite coarse. I enjoy much German food, unlike virtually everybody. Tasty and plentiful appeals to me more than fine dining.
But it’s not even tasty. I’m here in German speaking Luxembourg surrounded by German food and it’s fucking horrible
Last night they even managed to fuck up a posh burger. How can you fuck up a posh burger???
By going for a posh burger in the first place.
Burgers don't need to be posh.
Posh burger is an oxymoron, like smart shell suit.
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
The Grand Electric Hall in Spennymoor does fantastic breakfasts, and The Water End Barn, in St. Alban’s, is fine.
Other ‘Spoons venues are not so good.
When it comes to food, my tastes are quite coarse. I enjoy much German food, unlike virtually everybody. Tasty and plentiful appeals to me more than fine dining.
But it’s not even tasty. I’m here in German speaking Luxembourg surrounded by German food and it’s fucking horrible
Last night they even managed to fuck up a posh burger. How can you fuck up a posh burger???
By going for a posh burger in the first place.
Burgers don't need to be posh.
It was on my itinerary - I had no choice they’re paying for everything - but they tell me where to go
(Not that there’s much choice in the little village of Berdorf)
This whole area is hiking heaven. And the hiking is beautiful (I did a short one yesterday). Also rock climbing, mountain biking, all that. The burger place is called The Trail Inn - it specifically caters for hungry hikers and bikers, and has special smash burgers etc
In the UK or USA those burgers would be delicious. Fatty, salty, greasy, umami - with lots of mustard and mayo and pickles and everything
But because this is Germany the burgers are dull, flavourless, stodgy, with slightly undercooked chips and a pointless, sad little salad
To make it sadder, you can kinda tell the ingredients are good, beneath the blandness and dryness. Quality meat. They just don’t know how to cook it
But the country is lovely and the people are grand
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
Very much the end of times it would seem. For the second time in as many days, I find myself agreeing with a @BartholomewRoberts post.
There's nothing wrong with Toby Carvery - yes, the snobs don't get it. It's not The Ivy and doesn't pretend to be but I've never had a duff meal in my local (Snaresbrook).
Some may feel a Yorkshire Pudding for breakfast is an idea ahead of its time and I have some sympathy with that view and when you go "large" you never fill your plate with extraneous Yorkies. Indeed, I have a friend who took up learning physics to see how much they could pile on their plate and the best way of usuing gravity to their advantage.
You can also quickly tell those who've played Tetris in their youth.
Saturdays are the best day becasue they have roast lamb - a little bit of reconnaissance required to see when a new joint appears and then up you go.
The Carvery Yorkshire Pudding is a Capitalist Cost Control Device, designed to occupy as much of the medium sized plate as possible with hot air, so that the practically deliverable amount of the more expensive ingredients is subtly limited. It bears some resemblance to a political speech.
The mitigation strategy is an evolved version of the "row of cucumber slices to extend the size of the small salad bowl in Pizza Hut" technique. This is now redundant due to unlimited salads.
Fill the YP with vegetables.
The Yorkshire pudding has always been a cost control device, albeit a domestic one. You are supposed to serve a plate-sized one, with gravy, as a starter, and then people don't eat as much beef.
I presume the YPs at Toby Carvery breakfasts mean people don't eat as much sausage and bacon
Conservative voters appear to be the most pragmatic about it, with high scores for both cuts to spending and increases in tax. They might appreciate that a very large chunk of public spending goes on them given their age profile.
Labour and Lib Dem voters are a bit deluded - they need to accept that they tend to occupy the highest incomes, so at least some of any tax rises need to come from them (though a fair chunk might come from wealth via increased council tax, for example, or from benefits).
Reform voters are the biggest proponents of cake-ism, though there is a glimmer of justification in that given working-age benefits and spending have been relatively hammered and tax thresholds etc have been frozen. They are much younger than Conservatives, on average.
So the Government is redistributive and gives the money to their supporters. It's a simple enough concept for anyone to grasp.
At the moment, I think every party is serving a cabal.
For the Conservatives, it's pensioners. For Labour, it's public sector workers.
Not under Kemi.
Kemi unlike Farage and Davey has proposed means testing the winter fuel allowance and Reform now lead with pensioners in most polls.
Indeed the only age group Kemi has made gains with since the general election with Yougov is under 25s
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
The Grand Electric Hall in Spennymoor does fantastic breakfasts, and The Water End Barn, in St. Alban’s, is fine.
Other ‘Spoons venues are not so good.
When it comes to food, my tastes are quite coarse. I enjoy much German food, unlike virtually everybody. Tasty and plentiful appeals to me more than fine dining.
But it’s not even tasty. I’m here in German speaking Luxembourg surrounded by German food and it’s fucking horrible
Last night they even managed to fuck up a posh burger. How can you fuck up a posh burger???
By going for a posh burger in the first place.
Burgers don't need to be posh.
Posh burger is an oxymoron, like smart shell suit.
Burgers can be vomit-inducingly bad through to sublimely delicious. Generally, but not always, this can be predicted by way of the establishment. I find steak more unpredictable.
I'd rather have a good burger than a steak any day.
Interestingly Conservative voters are the most supportive not only of spending cuts but also higher taxes to fund defence
They are also the most supportive of making cuts in other areas of public spending to fund defence expenditure. Needless to say, no one asked them which areas should be cut - ending the Triple Lock perhaps?
There is so much drivel written about the triple lock and pampering oldies in general that surely it must have originated from Russian or American alt-right trolls.
So the entire South East of England goes without water?
Starmer caused the problem he will have to resolve the problem.
Let it go bust. Buy it for a pound. Rinse the shareholders. Fire the directors for gross misconduct, without compensation.
This is how capitalism is supposed to work. Profit is the reward for risk.
The shareholders have something you want: the ability to make the process orderly. Better to offer them, say, 5p in the pound, even though it may stick in the craw, to get their cooperation
Conservative voters appear to be the most pragmatic about it, with high scores for both cuts to spending and increases in tax. They might appreciate that a very large chunk of public spending goes on them given their age profile.
Labour and Lib Dem voters are a bit deluded - they need to accept that they tend to occupy the highest incomes, so at least some of any tax rises need to come from them (though a fair chunk might come from wealth via increased council tax, for example, or from benefits).
Reform voters are the biggest proponents of cake-ism, though there is a glimmer of justification in that given working-age benefits and spending have been relatively hammered and tax thresholds etc have been frozen. They are much younger than Conservatives, on average.
So the Government is redistributive and gives the money to their supporters. It's a simple enough concept for anyone to grasp.
At the moment, I think every party is serving a cabal.
For the Conservatives, it's pensioners. For Labour, it's public sector workers.
Not under Kemi.
Kemi unlike Farage and Davey has proposed means testing the winter fuel allowance and Reform now lead with pensioners in most polls.
Indeed the only age group Kemi has made gains with since the general election with Yougov is under 25s
The Tories have a new secret weapon with this new camera technique which I'm dubbing "Kemi Riefenstahl".
The Tories have an effective new social media trick: filming their broadcast interviews with BBC/Sky etc and clipping out the best bits on their platforms
Handheld camera enables pithier clips than a traditional back and forth with a TV journalist
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
That must make you their oldest regular by some distance.
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
You're nearly as old as JackW.
I should have said twenty past one...
BTW is JackW still amongst us? When the position of oldest lady in the world was taken by a Brit who was the last living subject of King Edward VII, I did think "But what about the last living subject of Queen Victoria? Doesn't he count?"
The great PB Carvery Debate continues into its second day. I thoroughly approve
It is more interesting than trans, more compelling than Gaza, more important than mere politics
I'm with Rory Sutherland on this and other things. Why do we go to global franchise X, Y or Z? Because though it won't be great it won't poison you and you can rely on it to be OK.
London hotels (see above for about the last two days): You can spend £600+ a night and by some mischance it can still be awful. You can stay at Premier Inn/Travelodge near a station and/or convenient parking for about 50p and it will be reliably moderate. A bed is a bed.
Food, ditto. Rory Sutherland's favourite example is McDonalds, though TBF I haven't been in one for over 20 years.
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
Ah, the grand, fascinating and ultimately pointless debate over the age of pubs, and the 'oldest' pub...
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
The Grand Electric Hall in Spennymoor does fantastic breakfasts, and The Water End Barn, in St. Alban’s, is fine.
Other ‘Spoons venues are not so good.
When it comes to food, my tastes are quite coarse. I enjoy much German food, unlike virtually everybody. Tasty and plentiful appeals to me more than fine dining.
But it’s not even tasty. I’m here in German speaking Luxembourg surrounded by German food and it’s fucking horrible
Last night they even managed to fuck up a posh burger. How can you fuck up a posh burger???
I go for things like Wiener Schnitzel, creamed peas, pigs’ trotters, sausage, sauerkraut with bacon, and the excellent beer and pastries.
RoboJenrick gunning for Hermer in todays video, featuring a friendly cabbie he probably didn't have permission to put up the easels in the video........
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
You're nearly as old as JackW.
Anyone seen or heard of Jack lately? Or have I just missed him?
Conservative voters appear to be the most pragmatic about it, with high scores for both cuts to spending and increases in tax. They might appreciate that a very large chunk of public spending goes on them given their age profile.
Labour and Lib Dem voters are a bit deluded - they need to accept that they tend to occupy the highest incomes, so at least some of any tax rises need to come from them (though a fair chunk might come from wealth via increased council tax, for example, or from benefits).
Reform voters are the biggest proponents of cake-ism, though there is a glimmer of justification in that given working-age benefits and spending have been relatively hammered and tax thresholds etc have been frozen. They are much younger than Conservatives, on average.
So the Government is redistributive and gives the money to their supporters. It's a simple enough concept for anyone to grasp.
At the moment, I think every party is serving a cabal.
For the Conservatives, it's pensioners. For Labour, it's public sector workers.
Not under Kemi.
Kemi unlike Farage and Davey has proposed means testing the winter fuel allowance and Reform now lead with pensioners in most polls.
Indeed the only age group Kemi has made gains with since the general election with Yougov is under 25s
The Tories have a new secret weapon with this new camera technique which I'm dubbing "Kemi Riefenstahl".
The Tories have an effective new social media trick: filming their broadcast interviews with BBC/Sky etc and clipping out the best bits on their platforms
Handheld camera enables pithier clips than a traditional back and forth with a TV journalist
The pseudo-AI but actually human-authored subtitling is impressive too. It is correctly spelled, which is a giveaway, but also in a clear typeface with lines broken in such a way as to keep the viewer reading.
Interesting that at the trial of Mazyar Zarbonyad the Prosecutor, Jolyon Perks, said
‘He was pursued by a number of police vehicles with lights illuminated. The lead police pursuit vehicle had dash cam footage which showed the defendant travelling in excess of 100mph and then approaching speeds of 120 mph. As the defendant approached the junction of the A186 he chose to abandon his attempt to escape but rapidly decelerated from 119mph to a complete stop in the middle of the carriageway. The pursuing police vehicles were forced to emergency brake in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid a serious collision. Seven officers, some of whom had to be cut out of their cars, were taken to hospital.’
Apparently, he had been told several times to slow down and stop
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
Ah, the grand, fascinating and ultimately pointless debate over the age of pubs, and the 'oldest' pub...
Don't think there's any point in debating that when the Trip to Jerusalem is in the room!
Starmer has to find the 3% and the public are against tax rises
Well here is an idea Starmer, grow a pair and refuse to revert the WFP and change the 2 child cap
The WFP political damage has already been done and labour cannot change the narrative by reinstating it
The country needs a strong conviction politician, not one that bends and sways when he thinks he may be unpopular
Yes Starmer, no use being the son of a toolmaker if your tools snap and break at every turn
You are on fire lately BigG.
WFP is about 5x short on being able to fund it unfortunately. We are talking of the order of £15bn a year to reach 3.0%. That's leaving aside that 3.0% of GDP is the kind of fake measure, that is "How much do we spend" not "What capability do we need - what will it cost", which used to be a specialism of Gordon "Off Balance Sheet Borrowing" Brown.
I think that the SDSR shows the sort of stolid common sense on strategy I generally expect from Mr Starmer, but there's still "where is the money coming from", and not a lot of sparkling apart from sparking mineral water.
There are a number of obvious things to do - squeeze BAE, recover our level of arms exports, end push-me-pull-you short term Treasury-driven defence policy which has been a disaster, stop the Tories selling the future for 3p next time they are in (if ever) in return for a fake golden calf.
To me the current Defence Secretary seems sensible, and he has done some decent background initiatives since he came in. He had been the Shadow since 2020, which may be important as I don't think he has military background. He seems to me to be more of a Ben Wallace than a Grant Manynames, which must be a positive.
One thing I am concerned about is that the two traditionally main parties are doing a politics of confrontation, where i think at base defence policy should be more cross-party.
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
Ah, the grand, fascinating and ultimately pointless debate over the age of pubs, and the 'oldest' pub...
Some of the inns/pubs Pepys visits are still there. The Chequers at Fowlmere is one.
Tha Maid's Head is in Norwich is mentioned in the 15th century Paston letters, and is still there.
Interesting that at the trial of Mazyar Zarbonyad the Prosecutor, Jolyon Perks, said
‘He was pursued by a number of police vehicles with lights illuminated. The lead police pursuit vehicle had dash cam footage which showed the defendant travelling in excess of 100mph and then approaching speeds of 120 mph. As the defendant approached the junction of the A186 he chose to abandon his attempt to escape but rapidly decelerated from 119mph to a complete stop in the middle of the carriageway. The pursuing police vehicles were forced to emergency brake in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid a serious collision. Seven officers, some of whom had to be cut out of their cars, were taken to hospital.’
Interesting that at the trial of Mazyar Zarbonyad the Prosecutor, Jolyon Perks, said
‘He was pursued by a number of police vehicles with lights illuminated. The lead police pursuit vehicle had dash cam footage which showed the defendant travelling in excess of 100mph and then approaching speeds of 120 mph. As the defendant approached the junction of the A186 he chose to abandon his attempt to escape but rapidly decelerated from 119mph to a complete stop in the middle of the carriageway. The pursuing police vehicles were forced to emergency brake in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid a serious collision. Seven officers, some of whom had to be cut out of their cars, were taken to hospital.’
Apparently, he had been told several times to slow down and stop
Well, if the prosecutor said it, it must be true. It rather sounds as if the defendant was the only one driving safely and looking down the road rather than at the front of his own car.
And sorry to be l late to the carvery debate. I don't think I've had one. (Lunch) buffets in Asian hotels, meanwhile, are things of beauty and excess.
I thought carverys were a 70s thing. I have images of all-you-can eat types queueing up to pile plates high. Am I wrong?
I have memories of student days eat all you can buffets. The trick was to take the plate, then construct a platform on top fanning out using celery sticks. You could effectively double the size of the plate that way...
Interesting that at the trial of Mazyar Zarbonyad the Prosecutor, Jolyon Perks, said
‘He was pursued by a number of police vehicles with lights illuminated. The lead police pursuit vehicle had dash cam footage which showed the defendant travelling in excess of 100mph and then approaching speeds of 120 mph. As the defendant approached the junction of the A186 he chose to abandon his attempt to escape but rapidly decelerated from 119mph to a complete stop in the middle of the carriageway. The pursuing police vehicles were forced to emergency brake in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid a serious collision. Seven officers, some of whom had to be cut out of their cars, were taken to hospital.’
Apparently, he had been told several times to slow down and stop
Also, apparently, by his girl friend. I suspect that relationship is thoroughly over, even allowing for the fact he's in prison.
Right now, ministers are receiving a tidal wave of paper on how bad an idea letting Thames Water go bankrupt is. Domestic and international repercussions. Etc etc.
“The sensible, but tough decision, minister, is to bale them out.”
There are no repercussions from letting a failed business go into administration.
That's why the system exists. It is the market working as intended.
Don't want to go into administration? Do a better job then!
Does that entirely work with utilities? After all in a genuine market the customer gets to choose the supplier. How does that work for water? I cannot switch from Wessex Water to someone else. And the market is regulated so that there is an upper limit on price.
Its different from say buying a TV or car or petrol or anything where you have genuine choice.
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
Ah, the grand, fascinating and ultimately pointless debate over the age of pubs, and the 'oldest' pub...
Some of the inns/pubs Pepys visits are still there. The Chequers at Fowlmere is one.
Tha Maid's Head is in Norwich is mentioned in the 15th century Paston letters, and is still there.
A stones throw from the Maids (haunted, everywhere round Tombland is!) Is the Adam and Eve, earliest reference 13th century but the current building is C16/17 with later additions.
Starmer has to find the 3% and the public are against tax rises
Well here is an idea Starmer, grow a pair and refuse to revert the WFP and change the 2 child cap
The WFP political damage has already been done and labour cannot change the narrative by reinstating it
The country needs a strong conviction politician, not one that bends and sways when he thinks he may be unpopular
Yes Starmer, no use being the son of a toolmaker if your tools snap and break at every turn
I’m surprised he hasn’t offered the WASPE women some cash too.
His u turns make him look weak.
Problem is replace him with a dummy like Rayner it won’t get any better.
Fiscal discipline is what we need and politicians who want to do stuff rather than politicians who came into politics to do nice stuff and have their halos polished.
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
Ah, the grand, fascinating and ultimately pointless debate over the age of pubs, and the 'oldest' pub...
Some of the inns/pubs Pepys visits are still there. The Chequers at Fowlmere is one.
Tha Maid's Head is in Norwich is mentioned in the 15th century Paston letters, and is still there.
A stones throw from the Maids (haunted, everywhere round Tombland is!) Is the Adam and Eve, earliest reference 13th century but the current building is C16/17 with later additions.
I lived in Norwich for 5 years and never even knew of the Maids - I did go to the Adam and Eve a lot
Interesting that at the trial of Mazyar Zarbonyad the Prosecutor, Jolyon Perks, said
‘He was pursued by a number of police vehicles with lights illuminated. The lead police pursuit vehicle had dash cam footage which showed the defendant travelling in excess of 100mph and then approaching speeds of 120 mph. As the defendant approached the junction of the A186 he chose to abandon his attempt to escape but rapidly decelerated from 119mph to a complete stop in the middle of the carriageway. The pursuing police vehicles were forced to emergency brake in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid a serious collision. Seven officers, some of whom had to be cut out of their cars, were taken to hospital.’
Apparently, he had been told several times to slow down and stop
Also, apparently, by his girl friend. I suspect that relationship is thoroughly over, even allowing for the fact he's in prison.
First date, not girlfriend. I summarised on a previous thread (which I cannot find - sorry - as I did not put a distinctive word in).
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
You're nearly as old as JackW.
Anyone seen or heard of Jack lately? Or have I just missed him?
Jack_W last posted, according to his profile, in July. Obviously he is too busy running the country since then. His ‘last active’ (whatever that means) date was last week. https://vf.politicalbetting.com/profile/comments/jack_w
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
Ah, the grand, fascinating and ultimately pointless debate over the age of pubs, and the 'oldest' pub...
Some of the inns/pubs Pepys visits are still there. The Chequers at Fowlmere is one.
Tha Maid's Head is in Norwich is mentioned in the 15th century Paston letters, and is still there.
A stones throw from the Maids (haunted, everywhere round Tombland is!) Is the Adam and Eve, earliest reference 13th century but the current building is C16/17 with later additions.
I lived in Norwich for 5 years and never even knew of the Maids - I did go to the Adam and Eve a lot
It's a hotel and event location now really rather than its former life, its not somewhere you go for a pint.
Right now, ministers are receiving a tidal wave of paper on how bad an idea letting Thames Water go bankrupt is. Domestic and international repercussions. Etc etc.
“The sensible, but tough decision, minister, is to bale them out.”
There are no repercussions from letting a failed business go into administration.
That's why the system exists. It is the market working as intended.
Don't want to go into administration? Do a better job then!
Does that entirely work with utilities? After all in a genuine market the customer gets to choose the supplier. How does that work for water? I cannot switch from Wessex Water to someone else. And the market is regulated so that there is an upper limit on price.
Its different from say buying a TV or car or petrol or anything where you have genuine choice.
Yes it works with utilities.
The consumers may not have a choice, but the business operators have many of them.
One of the issues with nationalised water was that pollution was much, much, much worse than it is today. As much as polluted water is spoken about today, it is from a benchmark of very clean water versus what existed in the 80s.
Theoretically, even pre-privatisation, the water firms were fined for polluting but since the fines were paid by a nationalised firm it made no difference to anyone and the firms never bothered cleaning up their act.
In the 1990s when the firms were privatised, a way to increase profits was to reduce fines. Pollute less, leak less, run your firm better and there is a profitable incentive to do that.
Since the 1990s it seems Ofwat has fallen asleep at the wheel but there's no reason that needs to be the case, or that privatisation hasn't worked, it just means regulating properly and if the firms go bankrupt due to bad management then they lose out and new operators get called in who can do a better job.
He'd have more fun in Saudi. You know where I stand on the team - clear absolutely all of the senior players out. Let Amorin build his team from a few ringers and the academy. Pointless pretending this lot can play for anyone, never mind his system.
Clearly it was his family who influenced his decison
Interesting he said 'at this stage of my career'
I am not as downbeat as you are, as I do expect a clear out of many players with new ones arriving
Having supported United since 1953, and famously chatted with Bobby Charlton at the height of our success, he wisely councilled that teams come amd go and to enjoy it while you can
Nothing can beat being with my daughter in the Camp Nou when Ole scored the winner
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
The Grand Electric Hall in Spennymoor does fantastic breakfasts, and The Water End Barn, in St. Alban’s, is fine.
Other ‘Spoons venues are not so good.
When it comes to food, my tastes are quite coarse. I enjoy much German food, unlike virtually everybody. Tasty and plentiful appeals to me more than fine dining.
But it’s not even tasty. I’m here in German speaking Luxembourg surrounded by German food and it’s fucking horrible
Last night they even managed to fuck up a posh burger. How can you fuck up a posh burger???
I go for things like Wiener Schnitzel, creamed peas, pigs’ trotters, sausage, sauerkraut with bacon, and the excellent beer and pastries.
Fair enough on the sausages. Germans make a great sausage
Sausage, beer, cakes - all good
If this restaurant last night had been offering sausage and pickle I’d have been on it like Lord Byron on a pretty Brussels chambermaid
Gerry Adams. Shamima Begum. Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man.
Lord Hermer has spent much of his life defending those who hate Britain.
Why on earth did Starmer hand-pick him to be Attorney General?
So what's Jenrick's solution? Lawyers shouldn't take cases involving people on Jenrick's disapproval list, or if they do they should then be debarred from certain jobs?
Right now, ministers are receiving a tidal wave of paper on how bad an idea letting Thames Water go bankrupt is. Domestic and international repercussions. Etc etc.
“The sensible, but tough decision, minister, is to bale them out.”
There are no repercussions from letting a failed business go into administration.
That's why the system exists. It is the market working as intended.
Don't want to go into administration? Do a better job then!
Does that entirely work with utilities? After all in a genuine market the customer gets to choose the supplier. How does that work for water? I cannot switch from Wessex Water to someone else. And the market is regulated so that there is an upper limit on price.
Its different from say buying a TV or car or petrol or anything where you have genuine choice.
Yes it works with utilities.
The consumers may not have a choice, but the business operators have many of them.
One of the issues with nationalised water was that pollution was much, much, much worse than it is today. As much as polluted water is spoken about today, it is from a benchmark of very clean water versus what existed in the 80s.
Theoretically, even pre-privatisation, the water firms were fined for polluting but since the fines were paid by a nationalised firm it made no difference to anyone and the firms never bothered cleaning up their act.
In the 1990s when the firms were privatised, a way to increase profits was to reduce fines. Pollute less, leak less, run your firm better and there is a profitable incentive to do that.
Since the 1990s it seems Ofwat has fallen asleep at the wheel but there's no reason that needs to be the case, or that privatisation hasn't worked, it just means regulating properly and if the firms go bankrupt due to bad management then they lose out and new operators get called in who can do a better job.
Every politician knows the private sector is more efficient thanks to free market competition, but every economist knows that where there is a natural monopoly, there must be strict regulation because there is, by definition, no free market competition.
The best name of a Wetherspoons is the Electrical Wizard in Morpeth, Northumberland. Prove me wrong.
I pop in there when we have to go to Morpeth.
Interesting place. It’s nice.
I quite like The Pommelers Rest, a pommeler being a duellist who holds his épée by the pommel to make it seem longer - a sort of penis extension for a musketeer.
And also the Red Lion and Pineapple, which has a weird bit of 2010s era cycling infra outside deliberately designed to let you cycle on the pavement (I think), pass the red traffic light, and turn left on a "No Turn Left" - so an opportunity gently to wind up crusty Spectator types.
Conservative voters appear to be the most pragmatic about it, with high scores for both cuts to spending and increases in tax. They might appreciate that a very large chunk of public spending goes on them given their age profile.
Labour and Lib Dem voters are a bit deluded - they need to accept that they tend to occupy the highest incomes, so at least some of any tax rises need to come from them (though a fair chunk might come from wealth via increased council tax, for example, or from benefits).
Reform voters are the biggest proponents of cake-ism, though there is a glimmer of justification in that given working-age benefits and spending have been relatively hammered and tax thresholds etc have been frozen. They are much younger than Conservatives, on average.
So the Government is redistributive and gives the money to their supporters. It's a simple enough concept for anyone to grasp.
At the moment, I think every party is serving a cabal.
For the Conservatives, it's pensioners. For Labour, it's public sector workers.
For Reform, it's the small businessman (or entrepreneur as they like to term themselves) plus benefit claimants. If Clacton is anything to go by.
Right now, ministers are receiving a tidal wave of paper on how bad an idea letting Thames Water go bankrupt is. Domestic and international repercussions. Etc etc.
“The sensible, but tough decision, minister, is to bale them out.”
There are no repercussions from letting a failed business go into administration.
That's why the system exists. It is the market working as intended.
Don't want to go into administration? Do a better job then!
Does that entirely work with utilities? After all in a genuine market the customer gets to choose the supplier. How does that work for water? I cannot switch from Wessex Water to someone else. And the market is regulated so that there is an upper limit on price.
Its different from say buying a TV or car or petrol or anything where you have genuine choice.
Yes it works with utilities.
The consumers may not have a choice, but the business operators have many of them.
One of the issues with nationalised water was that pollution was much, much, much worse than it is today. As much as polluted water is spoken about today, it is from a benchmark of very clean water versus what existed in the 80s.
Theoretically, even pre-privatisation, the water firms were fined for polluting but since the fines were paid by a nationalised firm it made no difference to anyone and the firms never bothered cleaning up their act.
In the 1990s when the firms were privatised, a way to increase profits was to reduce fines. Pollute less, leak less, run your firm better and there is a profitable incentive to do that.
Since the 1990s it seems Ofwat has fallen asleep at the wheel but there's no reason that needs to be the case, or that privatisation hasn't worked, it just means regulating properly and if the firms go bankrupt due to bad management then they lose out and new operators get called in who can do a better job.
Every politician knows the private sector is more efficient thanks to free market competition, but every economist knows that where there is a natural monopoly, there must be strict regulation because there is, by definition, no free market competition.
Indeed.
The market works in conjunction with regulations.
Set the criteria in regulations then let the firm operate accordingly. If it does a good job - profit. If it does an OK job - fines and reduced profits. If it does a bad job - fines, bankruptcy and a new operator ultimately takes over.
Gerry Adams. Shamima Begum. Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man.
Lord Hermer has spent much of his life defending those who hate Britain.
Why on earth did Starmer hand-pick him to be Attorney General?
So what's Jenrick's solution? Lawyers shouldn't take cases involving people on Jenrick's disapproval list, or if they do they should then be debarred from certain jobs?
He's not offering a solution he's pointing out who our AG has chosen to represent, sometimes on a pro bono basis. By their choices shall you know them seems to be the suggestion.
Gerry Adams. Shamima Begum. Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man.
Lord Hermer has spent much of his life defending those who hate Britain.
Why on earth did Starmer hand-pick him to be Attorney General?
So what's Jenrick's solution? Lawyers shouldn't take cases involving people on Jenrick's disapproval list, or if they do they should then be debarred from certain jobs?
Have I missed that PB doesn’t like Toby? Say it aint so
I have never set foot inside one of these establishments so I cannot comment on their quality.
It's quantity over quality TBH but there's one I go to from time to time because it's located in a place where we maybe are looking for lunch and there aren't alternatives. It's good enough for that.
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
Spoons food - for all that it has been eulogised on here - is pretty shit these days. They need to put their prices up to restore the quality but they've judged that their target market would rather eat slop than pay more.
The Grand Electric Hall in Spennymoor does fantastic breakfasts, and The Water End Barn, in St. Alban’s, is fine.
Other ‘Spoons venues are not so good.
When it comes to food, my tastes are quite coarse. I enjoy much German food, unlike virtually everybody. Tasty and plentiful appeals to me more than fine dining.
But it’s not even tasty. I’m here in German speaking Luxembourg surrounded by German food and it’s fucking horrible
Last night they even managed to fuck up a posh burger. How can you fuck up a posh burger???
By going for a posh burger in the first place.
Burgers don't need to be posh.
Posh burger is an oxymoron, like smart shell suit.
It really isn’t. It means they’ve chosen the best ingredients - best beef, cheese, pickles, bun - and some thought to how to cook it - eg the smash burger technique (one of several)
And when they are done well or even ok they are great
Last night was not even ok. It was dire. Cost £17 (and food in Luxembourg is not insanely expensive like Switzerland). So I was in posh burger country and I got something bitterly disappointing
Proud to wear the badge of never having been to a 'Spoons.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
Ah, the grand, fascinating and ultimately pointless debate over the age of pubs, and the 'oldest' pub...
Don't think there's any point in debating that when the Trip to Jerusalem is in the room!
Ye Olde Trip isn't even the oldest pub in Nottingham!
It's hilarious reading the online flame wars on this topic. It all depends on definition: some people seem to want a candidate to have been built as an inn (and what even was that definition in Medieval times); or to have been in continuous use (how do you prove there were no gaps in usage 500 years ago?), or to be substantially original (but how substantial is substantial?). And people seem to be rather hesitant to actually state their definitions before they argue...
Take my local candidate: The Old Ferryboat in Holywell. It is situated on an ancient crossing point of the Great Ouse, and it makes sense for an inn to be built at a crossing point, because travellers have to wait for a ferry, perhaps for hours or days in times of flood. Or if they cross late at night, it might not be worth onward travel that day. So siting an inn at a ferry crossing seems commonsensical. But the building itself is mostly 17th century, possibly with a much earlier wing. And the documentary evidence that it has been an inn back to Saxon times is nill (though Holywell is a Saxon ring village).
But it is a lovely pub in a really atmospheric location. And yes, I've run there.
Comments
The food in Toby is actually a bit a better than Wetherspoons - it's properly cooked - but you pretty much get one thing.
But I got sick of the queues for beer.
I gather now they have an app and you can order from your table but i haven't been and tried it.
They're not too big to fail. If they fail, they fail, goodbye.
Sky
Bruno Fernandes does not want Sauda Arabia move
We have been told the same of Whitehall, and the public sector generally. It is hard to blame the public for cakeism when this is the snake oil they have been sold. All we need do is cut out the waste. Bring in the private sector to make the NHS more efficient. Not water, obviously.
That's why the system exists. It is the market working as intended.
Don't want to go into administration? Do a better job then!
I don’t go often but if Mrs Eek wants to eat something (and she has limited options for “reasons”) - Wetherspoons do an acceptable chicken dish with a pint of Leffe for £8.70 or so and nowhere else is going to match that deal
They might just be capable of winning the play off final. Maybe.
Other ‘Spoons venues are not so good.
When it comes to food, my tastes are quite coarse. I enjoy much German food, unlike virtually everybody. Tasty and plentiful appeals to me more than fine dining.
It is more interesting than trans, more compelling than Gaza, more important than mere politics
The underlying business, sans debt, is highly profitable.
If it goes into administration and the bondholders are wiped out, then there's a profitable and sustainable business there to pick up which can either be a cash cow, or re-privatised.
Taxpayers money shouldn't go to bailout bondholders.
Burgers are okay.
Last night they even managed to fuck up a posh burger. How can you fuck up a posh burger???
Burgers don't need to be posh.
My local does a rotating selection of good real ales at £2.78 a pint though, cheaper on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I will continue to frequent them, particularly because it is by far and away the best pub in the town centre for cask beer
*closes debate*
Something only the old seem to enjoy.
As a non-drinker, food is the reason I go to pubs. Winner of the overall Pub of the Year is one of our locals, the Cott Inn at Dartington. Been going since 1320...
(Not that there’s much choice in the little village of Berdorf)
This whole area is hiking heaven. And the hiking is beautiful (I did a short one yesterday). Also rock climbing, mountain biking, all that. The burger place is called The Trail Inn - it specifically caters for hungry hikers and bikers, and has special smash burgers etc
In the UK or USA those burgers would be delicious. Fatty, salty, greasy, umami - with lots of mustard and mayo and pickles and everything
But because this is Germany the burgers are dull, flavourless, stodgy, with slightly undercooked chips and a pointless, sad little salad
To make it sadder, you can kinda tell the ingredients are good, beneath the blandness and dryness. Quality meat. They just don’t know how to cook it
But the country is lovely and the people are grand
I presume the YPs at Toby Carvery breakfasts mean people don't eat as much sausage and bacon
Kemi unlike Farage and Davey has proposed means testing the winter fuel allowance and Reform now lead with pensioners in most polls.
Indeed the only age group Kemi has made gains with since the general election with Yougov is under 25s
I'd rather have a good burger than a steak any day.
The former is great and should be encouraged. The latter is a much rarer beast and has specific criteria and conditions, as I described yesterday.
Your Zimbabwe photo yesterday, for example, was not a picnic.
https://x.com/JAHeale/status/1929639130826526887
The Tories have an effective new social media trick: filming their broadcast interviews with BBC/Sky etc and clipping out the best bits on their platforms
Handheld camera enables pithier clips than a traditional back and forth with a TV journalist
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UDjsSJK52rs
Turns out Elon Musk had a point after all.
BTW is JackW still amongst us? When the position of oldest lady in the world was taken by a Brit who was the last living subject of King Edward VII, I did think "But what about the last living subject of Queen Victoria? Doesn't he count?"
London hotels (see above for about the last two days): You can spend £600+ a night and by some mischance it can still be awful. You can stay at Premier Inn/Travelodge near a station and/or convenient parking for about 50p and it will be reliably moderate. A bed is a bed.
Food, ditto. Rory Sutherland's favourite example is McDonalds, though TBF I haven't been in one for over 20 years.
he probably didn't have permission to put up the easels in the video........
‘He was pursued by a number of police vehicles with lights illuminated. The lead police pursuit vehicle had dash cam footage which showed the defendant travelling in excess of 100mph and then approaching speeds of 120 mph. As the defendant approached the junction of the A186 he chose to abandon his attempt to escape but rapidly decelerated from 119mph to a complete stop in the middle of the carriageway. The pursuing police vehicles were forced to emergency brake in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid a serious collision. Seven officers, some of whom had to be cut out of their cars, were taken to hospital.’
Apparently, he had been told several times to slow down and stop
I think that the SDSR shows the sort of stolid common sense on strategy I generally expect from Mr Starmer, but there's still "where is the money coming from", and not a lot of sparkling apart from sparking mineral water.
There are a number of obvious things to do - squeeze BAE, recover our level of arms exports, end push-me-pull-you short term Treasury-driven defence policy which has been a disaster, stop the Tories selling the future for 3p next time they are in (if ever) in return for a fake golden calf.
To me the current Defence Secretary seems sensible, and he has done some decent background initiatives since he came in. He had been the Shadow since 2020, which may be important as I don't think he has military background. He seems to me to be more of a Ben Wallace than a Grant Manynames, which must be a positive.
One thing I am concerned about is that the two traditionally main parties are doing a politics of confrontation, where i think at base defence policy should be more cross-party.
We shall see.
Tha Maid's Head is in Norwich is mentioned in the 15th century Paston letters, and is still there.
Its different from say buying a TV or car or petrol or anything where you have genuine choice.
His u turns make him look weak.
Problem is replace him with a dummy like Rayner it won’t get any better.
Fiscal discipline is what we need and politicians who want to do stuff rather than politicians who came into politics to do nice stuff and have their halos polished.
https://x.com/robertjenrick/status/1929815747275927606
Gerry Adams. Shamima Begum. Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man.
Lord Hermer has spent much of his life defending those who hate Britain.
Why on earth did Starmer hand-pick him to be Attorney General?
Interesting place. It’s nice.
https://vf.politicalbetting.com/profile/comments/jack_w
The consumers may not have a choice, but the business operators have many of them.
One of the issues with nationalised water was that pollution was much, much, much worse than it is today. As much as polluted water is spoken about today, it is from a benchmark of very clean water versus what existed in the 80s.
Theoretically, even pre-privatisation, the water firms were fined for polluting but since the fines were paid by a nationalised firm it made no difference to anyone and the firms never bothered cleaning up their act.
In the 1990s when the firms were privatised, a way to increase profits was to reduce fines. Pollute less, leak less, run your firm better and there is a profitable incentive to do that.
Since the 1990s it seems Ofwat has fallen asleep at the wheel but there's no reason that needs to be the case, or that privatisation hasn't worked, it just means regulating properly and if the firms go bankrupt due to bad management then they lose out and new operators get called in who can do a better job.
Interesting he said 'at this stage of my career'
I am not as downbeat as you are, as I do expect a clear out of many players with new ones arriving
Having supported United since 1953, and famously chatted with Bobby Charlton at the height of our success, he wisely councilled that teams come amd go and to enjoy it while you can
Nothing can beat being with my daughter in the Camp Nou when Ole scored the winner
Sausage, beer, cakes - all good
If this restaurant last night had been offering sausage and pickle I’d have been on it like Lord Byron on a pretty Brussels chambermaid
I'm half serious. We need young people to fight these wars, and the average career length in the infantry is only 8 years, primarily due to injury.
And also the Red Lion and Pineapple, which has a weird bit of 2010s era cycling infra outside deliberately designed to let you cycle on the pavement (I think), pass the red traffic light, and turn left on a "No Turn Left" - so an opportunity gently to wind up crusty Spectator types.
The market works in conjunction with regulations.
Set the criteria in regulations then let the firm operate accordingly. If it does a good job - profit. If it does an OK job - fines and reduced profits. If it does a bad job - fines, bankruptcy and a new operator ultimately takes over.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smash_burger
And when they are done well or even ok they are great
Last night was not even ok. It was dire. Cost £17 (and food in Luxembourg is not insanely expensive like Switzerland). So I was in posh burger country and I got something bitterly disappointing
I’m still slightly miffed, now
https://triskeleheritage.triskelepublishing.com/mediaeval-mythbusting-blog-1-nottinghams-oldest-pub/
It's hilarious reading the online flame wars on this topic. It all depends on definition: some people seem to want a candidate to have been built as an inn (and what even was that definition in Medieval times); or to have been in continuous use (how do you prove there were no gaps in usage 500 years ago?), or to be substantially original (but how substantial is substantial?). And people seem to be rather hesitant to actually state their definitions before they argue...
Take my local candidate: The Old Ferryboat in Holywell. It is situated on an ancient crossing point of the Great Ouse, and it makes sense for an inn to be built at a crossing point, because travellers have to wait for a ferry, perhaps for hours or days in times of flood. Or if they cross late at night, it might not be worth onward travel that day. So siting an inn at a ferry crossing seems commonsensical. But the building itself is mostly 17th century, possibly with a much earlier wing. And the documentary evidence that it has been an inn back to Saxon times is nill (though Holywell is a Saxon ring village).
But it is a lovely pub in a really atmospheric location. And yes, I've run there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Ferry_Boat_Inn