There’s a bigger story in the Guardian. The total collapse of entry level graduate jobs. It’s mayhem out there
Universities are doomed. We need to tell our kids to go elsewhere, learn a trade, don’t take on all that debt
Yup, I flashed up the warning signs on here about a year ago and got told I was being ridiculous. I said it again a few months ago that kids today would be better off learning something practical rather than something behind a desk. Again the usual suspects told me I was being alarmist and that "junior lawyers" would still earn more than anyone who did a trade, ignoring the fact that there's only about 300 spots per year for in magic circle graduate schemes.
The talent pipeline in the UK has completely collapsed at the top of the funnel. There's hardly any junior hires for highly skilled careers and we're increasingly relying on the 2015-2019 graduate cohorts to fill mid and senior roles whole those who graduated since 2020 are struggling to get meaningful junior roles to start their careers.
Once again I'll say it, if you've got kids between 12 and 16 you should advise them to pick something practical or vocational that isn't easy to automate. I have two and one on the way, o genuinely have no idea what the world will look like by the time they're 16 and making those big life choices, I just have to hope everything is settled by then and career choices/pathways are easier.
It’s extraordinary how little this is discussed
Just one outcome is the collapse in the university sector (I know I’ve mentioned it before but look - now it’s coming true)
Kids are not going to take on £££ of debt if they 1. Learning nothing while at uni and 2. There aren’t any jobs at the end anyway
There’s a really compelling quote in that guardian article
“One of the few responses [this new graduate] has received so far was a rejection email explaining that 2,000 other people had applied for the role. “I feel very disheartened and, frankly, lied to,” Martyna said. “Both of my degrees seem useless. My parents came here from Poland, and I have £90,000 in student debt – for what?
“They told us: ‘If you don’t go to university, you could be working in McDonald’s.’ I went to university and applied to be a barista, and was rejected for lack of experience. I have considered going back to Poland.””
We have sold our kids a pup. Many unis will close. Lord knows what that will do to all the towns and cities where the uni is a major or even dominant employer
So she goes back to Poland, an economy on the up, and the UK government has to eat the £90k plus interest at some point in the future.
That Guardian article about AI tanking the graduate job market has an interesting comment from a recruitment consultant saying that the ability to read, write, and form an analysis without using the internet are now "elite skills." Wouldn't it be great if we had degree subjects that teach just that?
Perhaps the result of AI is that we lose our intelligence.
The owners of paper books will be king - they're the only people that can be even close to certain about facts.
I'm currently (and slowly) slinging out my books. Even the recycling centre has given up on the idea of saving them for reuse and resale and now just directs people to the cardboard skip.
But there is an interesting finding that AI makes programmers faster.
LOL. Scooped by rkrkrk with a different link to the same study.
Got any old linux/unix/C stuff?
Let me know if you have a wishlist. A complete (maybe) set of Stevens, for instance.
For sure, I'm getting into systems programming and find the old stuff v-interesting. Don't want to put you out but I'd love to see what your throwing and maybe save it from the shredder. Anything network, systems programming, kernel stuff, C and advanced C etc etc would work.
Where roughly in the country are you? Logistics might be a killer.
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
There’s a bigger story in the Guardian. The total collapse of entry level graduate jobs. It’s mayhem out there
Universities are doomed. We need to tell our kids to go elsewhere, learn a trade, don’t take on all that debt
Yup, I flashed up the warning signs on here about a year ago and got told I was being ridiculous. I said it again a few months ago that kids today would be better off learning something practical rather than something behind a desk. Again the usual suspects told me I was being alarmist and that "junior lawyers" would still earn more than anyone who did a trade, ignoring the fact that there's only about 300 spots per year for in magic circle graduate schemes.
The talent pipeline in the UK has completely collapsed at the top of the funnel. There's hardly any junior hires for highly skilled careers and we're increasingly relying on the 2015-2019 graduate cohorts to fill mid and senior roles whole those who graduated since 2020 are struggling to get meaningful junior roles to start their careers.
Once again I'll say it, if you've got kids between 12 and 16 you should advise them to pick something practical or vocational that isn't easy to automate. I have two and one on the way, o genuinely have no idea what the world will look like by the time they're 16 and making those big life choices, I just have to hope everything is settled by then and career choices/pathways are easier.
It’s extraordinary how little this is discussed
Just one outcome is the collapse in the university sector (I know I’ve mentioned it before but look - now it’s coming true)
Kids are not going to take on £££ of debt if they 1. Learning nothing while at uni and 2. There aren’t any jobs at the end anyway
There’s a really compelling quote in that guardian article
“One of the few responses [this new graduate] has received so far was a rejection email explaining that 2,000 other people had applied for the role. “I feel very disheartened and, frankly, lied to,” Martyna said. “Both of my degrees seem useless. My parents came here from Poland, and I have £90,000 in student debt – for what?
“They told us: ‘If you don’t go to university, you could be working in McDonald’s.’ I went to university and applied to be a barista, and was rejected for lack of experience. I have considered going back to Poland.””
We have sold our kids a pup. Many unis will close. Lord knows what that will do to all the towns and cities where the uni is a major or even dominant employer
So she goes back to Poland, an economy on the up, and the UK government has to eat the £90k plus interest at some point in the future.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb came in second place in a triathlon competition, in which he participated incognito under the pseudonym AS, - Ilta-Sanomat
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
Ludicrous advice. Soon there won’t be anything left BUT boozing
You shouldn’t need a driveway to own an electric car.
My Plan for Change is boosting funding for infrastructure to allow cables to run safely beneath pavements.
That’s cheaper, at home charging – putting money back in the pockets of working people.
And already Westminister council have said - we don't do that as the liability issues are far to complex and haven't been solved..
The people a few doors down have a small electric car. They often park it on the pavement, leaving a narrow gap between their wall and the car to get past. Except the cable droops down from the charging point. At night, you can see the black car. You cannot easily see the *black* cable on the ground or in the air.
A simple improvement would be to make the cables a more visible and/or reflective colour, or perhaps even have low-energy LEDs, like some dog leashes?
On these I turn into Attila the Hun.
A simple solution would be an Sxy (whatever it is) 3 points for Wilfully Obstructing the Highway. Four of those and the problem goes away for 6 months, and the perpetrators learn their lesson.
A visible obstruction is still an obstruction. If a visually impaired person fell over that and was in hospital, they would correctly be liable.
IMO this is a simple "it's OK for me to break the law because it's inconvenient for me to obey it, and I think I am that important" case. It is why we need Neighbourhood PCSOs.
As far as I can work out, the police never prosecute for obstructing the highway as it is not a ticketable offence.
Apparently children carrying Jerry cans to get water were seen as a threat to the IDF so they were slaughtered . Any criticism of the Israeli government is now twisted into anti-semitism. The west should be ashamed at its response .
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
But this is elitist PB.
Persuade my lazy arsed offspring to become tradesmen* whilst trailing their little geniuses around St Andrews. I suppose they could always become Princess Kate.
Their idea to close all the non-Russell Group universities down and send other people's children to technical college for a trade is doubtless sound advice for the scumbag class (although not necessarily for themselves).
*Who will require the services of all these tradespeople? Surely even all the million pound earners on PB each need only one chippy, one sparky, one brickie and one plumber and at irregular intervals.
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
I took only the first piece of that advice, and yes I'd probably have done well to have complied with all of it.
Didn't pick a subject that interested me. Didn't stay clear of excessive alcohol consumption.
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
Ludicrous advice. Soon there won’t be anything left BUT boozing
The demographics would finish off the Universities anyway. There's a growing crisis in the younger education world as fewer children are being born and therefore requiring schooling which means fewer schools and fewer school teachers/classroom assistants.
LEAs can merge the schools in their management, academies would simply close. In either instance, the land and buildings revert to the local council and given many schools are in good sites for redevelopment, we can build more houses for the childless couples or proper accommodation for the elderly enabling them to downsize out of their impractical four and five bedroom houses.
The SEN problem will resolve itself in time as there will be fewer children to be referred thus less need for specialist accommodation and for specialist home to school transport services.
As for the Universities, it affects the University town as much as it does the academic establishment itself. I'd argue the student money spent on services in towns like Norwich and Kingston (to name but two) is vital for the local economy so cutting the number of students piles further pressure on an already beleaguered retail estate.
One benefit is as the numbers on school rolls fall, the requirement to spend money on education falls with it so we can off set some (not much) of our increased spending on defence and the elderly by reducing education expenditure.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb came in second place in a triathlon competition, in which he participated incognito under the pseudonym AS, - Ilta-Sanomat
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
But this is elitist PB.
Persuade my lazy arsed offspring to become tradesmen* whilst trailing their little geniuses around St Andrews. I suppose they could always become Princess Kate.
Their idea to close all the non-Russell Group universities down and send other people's children to technical college for a trade is doubtless sound advice for the scumbag class (although not necessarily for themselves).
*Who will require the services of all these tradespeople? Surely even all the million pound earners on PB each need only one chippy, one sparky, one brickie and one plumber and at irregular intervals.
It's not "an idea" or a "proposal" you chippy little prole, it's just the facts
Going to uni is increasingly pointless, and self harming (the debt, the opportunity cost). Ergo, students will stop going: they will leave school at 18, most unis will shut
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
I took only the first piece of that advice, and yes I'd probably have done well to have complied with all of it.
Didn't pick a subject that interested me. Didn't stay clear of excessive alcohol consumption.
Where were you when I needed you?
I wouldn't be advising anyone to go to university unless they were very clear where it was taking them. £50k plus of debt is a lot for dabbling in a subject because it interests you. If I had sons rather than daughters I'd be advising them to learn a trade. But it doesn't really seem a thing that girls do.
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
Ludicrous advice. Soon there won’t be anything left BUT boozing
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
But this is elitist PB.
Persuade my lazy arsed offspring to become tradesmen* whilst trailing their little geniuses around St Andrews. I suppose they could always become Princess Kate.
Their idea to close all the non-Russell Group universities down and send other people's children to technical college for a trade is doubtless sound advice for the scumbag class (although not necessarily for themselves).
*Who will require the services of all these tradespeople? Surely even all the million pound earners on PB each need only one chippy, one sparky, one brickie and one plumber and at irregular intervals.
It's not "an idea" or a "proposal" you chippy little prole, it's just the facts
Going to uni is increasingly pointless, and self harming (the debt, the opportunity cost). Ergo, students will stop going: they will leave school at 18, most unis will shut
Degree apprentiships, with the likes of Airbus, BAE Systems, F1 teams, major builders etc.
Someone will still need to be the certified engineer, with a revocable certificate, that signs off of building stuff that can kill people if it fails.
No government is going to let AI certify a bridge or an aircraft any time soon.
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
But this is elitist PB.
Persuade my lazy arsed offspring to become tradesmen* whilst trailing their little geniuses around St Andrews. I suppose they could always become Princess Kate.
Their idea to close all the non-Russell Group universities down and send other people's children to technical college for a trade is doubtless sound advice for the scumbag class (although not necessarily for themselves).
*Who will require the services of all these tradespeople? Surely even all the million pound earners on PB each need only one chippy, one sparky, one brickie and one plumber and at irregular intervals.
It's not "an idea" or a "proposal" you chippy little prole, it's just the facts
Going to uni is increasingly pointless, and self harming (the debt, the opportunity cost). Ergo, students will stop going: they will leave school at 18, most unis will shut
I don't disagree with your notions that I a am a chippy proletarian and that universities are facing an existential crisis.
I don't want to be lectured by you and other PB right wing elitists who suggest that my scumbag offspring should train as binmen or road sweepers whilst you are ignoring your own advice by taking ( quite rightly) your child to check our St Andrews, and good on you for that.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's striking how keen some people are to write off the Starmer-Macron plan before it's even started.
(Me, I dunno. But it seems to have fewer legal hurdles, lower cost and more capacity than the Rwanda scheme did. It's not obvious that it's worse than that.)
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's all about probability. The risk tolerance of someone willing/brainwashed to burn all their cash and risk their life on a channel crossing is exceptionally high. Will the chance of being sent back to France be high enough to stop them taking that risk?
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's all about probability. The risk tolerance of someone willing/brainwashed to burn all their cash and risk their life on a channel crossing is exceptionally high. Will the chance of being sent back to France be high enough to stop them taking that risk?
If demand starts to fall, the gangs will start to offer buy one get one free deals.
I have a 20-something nephew-in-law who studied photography at uni (yes, photography). Let’s call him Todd
He accrued debt and - unsurprisingly - didn’t get a job as a pro tog at the end
Many of his uni peers are still desperately struggling and failing to get into the arts as a job, and working minimum wage in the meantime
Todd decided No, so he retrained as an electrician - and he’s very good - and he’s making £££ a day
Yes, but here is the case for the humanities or liberal arts – why not an electrician who quotes Catullus? You yourself are a travel writer but I'm guessing you did not graduate in joint honours English and Geography. For most graduates over the past hundred years, university never was a trade school so it seems perverse to complain it is not one now.
I had my boiler replaced recently and got chatting to the engineer when he took a break. Usual 'what is it you do?' chat. I explained I messed around with computers, and 'AI' at the moment.
Then he showed me the custom GPT's he'd made, raved about 'AI', a custom application he'd "vibe coded" and shared with his other engineers at work to help them plan work, ordering parts, etc. Some of the GPTs have all their training material, safety manuals, tips and tricks embedded in it. Said it could sometimes save hours of a day instead of having to look up terrible, clunky manufacturer websites, or worse - being on the phone to their call-centres.
Really struck me that it was quietly becoming pervasive in ways I don't think are being picked up in surveys - possibly as no-one has thought to survey non-white-collar workers about it.
Helpful links on how to create a "Custom GPT" (a personalised AI that uses documents you have uploaded)
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
But this is elitist PB.
Persuade my lazy arsed offspring to become tradesmen* whilst trailing their little geniuses around St Andrews. I suppose they could always become Princess Kate.
Their idea to close all the non-Russell Group universities down and send other people's children to technical college for a trade is doubtless sound advice for the scumbag class (although not necessarily for themselves).
*Who will require the services of all these tradespeople? Surely even all the million pound earners on PB each need only one chippy, one sparky, one brickie and one plumber and at irregular intervals.
It's not "an idea" or a "proposal" you chippy little prole, it's just the facts
Going to uni is increasingly pointless, and self harming (the debt, the opportunity cost). Ergo, students will stop going: they will leave school at 18, most unis will shut
I don't disagree with your notions that I a am a chippy proletarian and that universities are facing an existential crisis.
I don't want to be lectured by you and other PB right wing elitists who suggest that my scumbag offspring should train as binmen or road sweepers whilst you are ignoring your own advice by taking ( quite rightly) your child to check our St Andrews, and good on you for that.
P.S. I bet it woz Lucky wot giv you the like!
You don't understand. I'd give the same advice to my own kids, if they were willing to listen
Finnish President Alexander Stubb came in second place in a triathlon competition, in which he participated incognito under the pseudonym AS, - Ilta-Sanomat
Just on my way back from Sheffield. I had a nice time, but I can't give one of my cheery reports of a lovely spot of the North of England. The city cenrre is on its arse. It seems dominated by vape shops and phone repair shops. So many vacant units. Graffiti and weeds everywhere. The retail offer feels like that of a struggling small town, rather than one of the biggest cities in the country. The Leadmill is gone. Beggars everywhere. Empty plots. And to add to the sense of malaise, due to the drought, none of the fountains are working. It makes me sad. Sheffield is one of my favourite cities. It had come a long way since I lived there in the 90s. But it feels like it has regressed about 25 years in the last 12 months.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's all about probability. The risk tolerance of someone willing/brainwashed to burn all their cash and risk their life on a channel crossing is exceptionally high. Will the chance of being sent back to France be high enough to stop them taking that risk?
No.
And can we stop trying to portray these people as innocent victims of trafficking - it's so patronising as to border on racism. They are young, able, and making a rational decision to come here and better their lives as they see it. I wish to shut off that option for them, primarily because I wish to preserve the resources and integrity of our country, with the side benefit of stopping unsafe crossings. There's far too much bullshit about this topic on both sides of the debate.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's striking how keen some people are to write off the Starmer-Macron plan before it's even started.
(Me, I dunno. But it seems to have fewer legal hurdles, lower cost and more capacity than the Rwanda scheme did. It's not obvious that it's worse than that.)
My working assumption is that Macron doesn't think it will work which is why he's agreed to it.
There’s a bigger story in the Guardian. The total collapse of entry level graduate jobs. It’s mayhem out there
Universities are doomed. We need to tell our kids to go elsewhere, learn a trade, don’t take on all that debt
Yup, I flashed up the warning signs on here about a year ago and got told I was being ridiculous. I said it again a few months ago that kids today would be better off learning something practical rather than something behind a desk. Again the usual suspects told me I was being alarmist and that "junior lawyers" would still earn more than anyone who did a trade, ignoring the fact that there's only about 300 spots per year for in magic circle graduate schemes.
The talent pipeline in the UK has completely collapsed at the top of the funnel. There's hardly any junior hires for highly skilled careers and we're increasingly relying on the 2015-2019 graduate cohorts to fill mid and senior roles whole those who graduated since 2020 are struggling to get meaningful junior roles to start their careers.
Once again I'll say it, if you've got kids between 12 and 16 you should advise them to pick something practical or vocational that isn't easy to automate. I have two and one on the way, o genuinely have no idea what the world will look like by the time they're 16 and making those big life choices, I just have to hope everything is settled by then and career choices/pathways are easier.
It’s extraordinary how little this is discussed
Just one outcome is the collapse in the university sector (I know I’ve mentioned it before but look - now it’s coming true)
Kids are not going to take on £££ of debt if they 1. Learning nothing while at uni and 2. There aren’t any jobs at the end anyway
There’s a really compelling quote in that guardian article
“One of the few responses [this new graduate] has received so far was a rejection email explaining that 2,000 other people had applied for the role. “I feel very disheartened and, frankly, lied to,” Martyna said. “Both of my degrees seem useless. My parents came here from Poland, and I have £90,000 in student debt – for what?
“They told us: ‘If you don’t go to university, you could be working in McDonald’s.’ I went to university and applied to be a barista, and was rejected for lack of experience. I have considered going back to Poland.””
We have sold our kids a pup. Many unis will close. Lord knows what that will do to all the towns and cities where the uni is a major or even dominant employer
The only guaranteed sign of the impending academogeddon will be when PBers proudly boast of their sprogs’ plumbing apprenticeships and thriving careers in the fish processing industry. So far, so no show.
Lol, yes. It's other people's kids who need to make this far-sighted choice. Ours will sacrifice their prospects by insisting on going to uni.
But they won’t. Only a few rich kids will go to uni (to get laid and network). Everyone else won’t bother. You don’t learn anything, there are no grad jobs at the end, you rack up debt
It’s like PB can’t grasp basic economic facts
Your vision for unis is similar to mine for private schools. Either, both or neither could be right. But there's a fair amount of wishful thinking in there from both of us, I think.
No there isn’t. (SNIP)
I actively dislike what I’m predicting. I don’t want universities to die. They are wonderful things - I went to a great uni and it changed my life
The difference is I can EXTRAPOLATE and I don’t go into denial, I can see what’s coming down the line - and it’s the end of the university as we have known it, for 80-90% of people
I hope we can find some replacement that is equally enriching. I still like my idea of the government funding some kind of gap year/national service
You’re paid a small wage to do good works overseas for 6 months, in return the government will give you a small stipend to backpack the other 6 months
That would be enriching for all and produce more rounded 20 year olds
Ok, I've edited out the stupid bit so I can reply now.
Your 'extrapolation' tends to be too linear. You'll see or read about a trend and always take it to the max without giving enough weight to mitigations and uncertainties.
But that's a general comment. Perhaps you're right on this one. I doubt it, but you might be. And, ok, so you don't get a secret little glow from the idea of the whole lefty woke uni sector coming a cropper. I think you do but since I know it irritates when I claim this sort of spooky insight into another's head, and I don't wish to irritate, I'll retract that.
The idea of funded VSO type work has merit imo. Lots of young people could benefit from that.
There’s a bigger story in the Guardian. The total collapse of entry level graduate jobs. It’s mayhem out there
Universities are doomed. We need to tell our kids to go elsewhere, learn a trade, don’t take on all that debt
Yup, I flashed up the warning signs on here about a year ago and got told I was being ridiculous. I said it again a few months ago that kids today would be better off learning something practical rather than something behind a desk. Again the usual suspects told me I was being alarmist and that "junior lawyers" would still earn more than anyone who did a trade, ignoring the fact that there's only about 300 spots per year for in magic circle graduate schemes.
The talent pipeline in the UK has completely collapsed at the top of the funnel. There's hardly any junior hires for highly skilled careers and we're increasingly relying on the 2015-2019 graduate cohorts to fill mid and senior roles whole those who graduated since 2020 are struggling to get meaningful junior roles to start their careers.
Once again I'll say it, if you've got kids between 12 and 16 you should advise them to pick something practical or vocational that isn't easy to automate. I have two and one on the way, o genuinely have no idea what the world will look like by the time they're 16 and making those big life choices, I just have to hope everything is settled by then and career choices/pathways are easier.
It’s extraordinary how little this is discussed
Just one outcome is the collapse in the university sector (I know I’ve mentioned it before but look - now it’s coming true)
Kids are not going to take on £££ of debt if they 1. Learning nothing while at uni and 2. There aren’t any jobs at the end anyway
There’s a really compelling quote in that guardian article
“One of the few responses [this new graduate] has received so far was a rejection email explaining that 2,000 other people had applied for the role. “I feel very disheartened and, frankly, lied to,” Martyna said. “Both of my degrees seem useless. My parents came here from Poland, and I have £90,000 in student debt – for what?
“They told us: ‘If you don’t go to university, you could be working in McDonald’s.’ I went to university and applied to be a barista, and was rejected for lack of experience. I have considered going back to Poland.””
We have sold our kids a pup. Many unis will close. Lord knows what that will do to all the towns and cities where the uni is a major or even dominant employer
The only guaranteed sign of the impending academogeddon will be when PBers proudly boast of their sprogs’ plumbing apprenticeships and thriving careers in the fish processing industry. So far, so no show.
Lol, yes. It's other people's kids who need to make this far-sighted choice. Ours will sacrifice their prospects by insisting on going to uni.
But they won’t. Only a few rich kids will go to uni (to get laid and network). Everyone else won’t bother. You don’t learn anything, there are no grad jobs at the end, you rack up debt
It’s like PB can’t grasp basic economic facts
Your vision for unis is similar to mine for private schools. Either, both or neither could be right. But there's a fair amount of wishful thinking in there from both of us, I think.
No there isn’t. (SNIP)
I actively dislike what I’m predicting. I don’t want universities to die. They are wonderful things - I went to a great uni and it changed my life
The difference is I can EXTRAPOLATE and I don’t go into denial, I can see what’s coming down the line - and it’s the end of the university as we have known it, for 80-90% of people
I hope we can find some replacement that is equally enriching. I still like my idea of the government funding some kind of gap year/national service
You’re paid a small wage to do good works overseas for 6 months, in return the government will give you a small stipend to backpack the other 6 months
That would be enriching for all and produce more rounded 20 year olds
Ok, I've edited out the stupid bit so I can reply now.
Your 'extrapolation' tends to be too linear. You'll see or read about a trend and always take it to the max without giving enough weight to mitigations and uncertainties.
But that's a general comment. Perhaps you're right on this one. I doubt it, but you might be. And, ok, so you don't get a secret little glow from the idea of the whole lefty woke uni sector coming a cropper. I think you do but since I know it irritates when I claim this sort of spooky insight into another's head, and I don't wish to irritate, I'll retract that.
The idea of funded VSO type work has merit imo. Lots of young people could benefit from that.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's striking how keen some people are to write off the Starmer-Macron plan before it's even started.
(Me, I dunno. But it seems to have fewer legal hurdles, lower cost and more capacity than the Rwanda scheme did. It's not obvious that it's worse than that.)
My working assumption is that Macron doesn't think it will work which is why he's agreed to it.
Also, French spoke-hommes are saying "it's only for one year"
So it's a feeble deal to return 3 dinghy dudes a month, and the EU might still nix it, and it only lasts a year
That's Starmer's "deal". Presumably this is costing us £2000,000,00,000000
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's striking how keen some people are to write off the Starmer-Macron plan before it's even started.
(Me, I dunno. But it seems to have fewer legal hurdles, lower cost and more capacity than the Rwanda scheme did. It's not obvious that it's worse than that.)
It is in the interest of Farage, Jenrick and their media and PB fanbois that it doesn't work.
You shouldn’t need a driveway to own an electric car.
My Plan for Change is boosting funding for infrastructure to allow cables to run safely beneath pavements.
That’s cheaper, at home charging – putting money back in the pockets of working people.
And already Westminister council have said - we don't do that as the liability issues are far to complex and haven't been solved..
The people a few doors down have a small electric car. They often park it on the pavement, leaving a narrow gap between their wall and the car to get past. Except the cable droops down from the charging point. At night, you can see the black car. You cannot easily see the *black* cable on the ground or in the air.
A simple improvement would be to make the cables a more visible and/or reflective colour, or perhaps even have low-energy LEDs, like some dog leashes?
On these I turn into Attila the Hun.
A simple solution would be an Sxy (whatever it is) 3 points for Wilfully Obstructing the Highway. Four of those and the problem goes away for 6 months, and the perpetrators learn their lesson.
A visible obstruction is still an obstruction. If a visually impaired person fell over that and was in hospital, they would correctly be liable.
IMO this is a simple "it's OK for me to break the law because it's inconvenient for me to obey it, and I think I am that important" case. It is why we need Neighbourhood PCSOs.
As far as I can work out, the police never prosecute for obstructing the highway as it is not a ticketable offence.
That's an interesting point, and "ticketable" is a grey definition afaics. There are different areas of law which apply for Local Authorities and Police. LAs have all sorts of provisions they can apply, if they will give it appropriate priority.
Checking, "Wilful obstruction" under S137 HWA1980 is a summary fine, and can be a ticket. Not sure on points.
HWA1980 S137 is used for all sorts of things; I use it for unlawful barriers, to make the Highways Authority take action. I have my eye on using it for advertising boards left blocking 30-60% of the pavement where there used to be phone boxes on what is now a shared cycling / walking pavement. It is also used for demonstrators, though it was not the provision used to muller Extinction Rebellion.
There is also "leaving a vehicle in a dangerous place" which is 3 points as well, and could apply eg to presence on white lines at a zebra crossing, or imo here. Mr Loophole would perhaps argue that a charging cable "is not part of the vehicle".
In practice police forces often have slopey-shouldered excuses as to why it is the Local Council, not them.
Here's an extract from a Leicester Council summary. If you follow up there is quite a bit of verbiage trimming on the application of the law:
1. Current Police Guidance 1.1 Offences of unnecessary and wilful obstruction do exist, and do sit in the Police domain. Proceedings for obstructing the highway (including pavements) can be instituted under the following legislation:
Wilful Obstruction of the Highway • Section 137 Highways Act 1980 • Fine Level 3 • Fixed Penalty Summary Offence.
Leaving Vehicles in Dangerous Position • Section 22 Road Traffic Act 1988 • Fine Level 3 • Fixed Penalty Summary Offence that carries 3 penalty points and requires service of a Notice of Intended Prosecution.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's striking how keen some people are to write off the Starmer-Macron plan before it's even started.
(Me, I dunno. But it seems to have fewer legal hurdles, lower cost and more capacity than the Rwanda scheme did. It's not obvious that it's worse than that.)
It's because most on the right fear only one thing more than SKS failing to stop the boats - that he does.
That would be devastating for the Tories. It would cement Reform as the de facto rightwing opposition. We would then see a tidal wave of movement towards Reform, and I don't see how the Tories recover
I think I'd make a huge swathe of Universities into FE colleges in all but name, and I'd allow people to go there at 6th form age for 3 years. Learning trades, but also business/accountancy, technology subjects, design, vocational careers like nursing etc. And heavy emphasis on sport, sports science. Apprenticeship schemes running alongside. After the 3 years, you'd either enter the world of work, or do an MBA type thing. A few Institutes would do this. The Manchester Institute of Technology (our MIT) would be one. The whole stream would be called the Ivy League. I realise that that term means America's version of the elite universities, and it would strike an American and 'elitist' feel with emphasis on sports. Also emphasis on looking good - this is about entering the world of work. Uniform of chinos/chino skirts and navy blazers.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's all about probability. The risk tolerance of someone willing/brainwashed to burn all their cash and risk their life on a channel crossing is exceptionally high. Will the chance of being sent back to France be high enough to stop them taking that risk?
No.
And can we stop trying to portray these people as innocent victims of trafficking - it's so patronising as to border on racism. They are young, able, and making a rational decision to come here and better their lives as they see it. I wish to shut off that option for them, primarily because I wish to preserve the resources and integrity of our country, with the side benefit of stopping unsafe crossings. There's far too much bullshit about this topic on both sides of the debate.
Well you clearly know exactly who these people are and how they think. Remarkable demonstration of empathy beyond the norm.
Looks more like Sir Keir to me, to be honest. Got that sort of vacant glare he specialises in. But that might be interesting so I am probably wrong about that.
“Starmer often seems like a headmaster in assembly, whereas Nigel Farage comes across as a stand-up comedian.”
From “coercion” to “rigidity,” linguistics expert Dr Geoff Lindsey compares the speech of the “diametric opposites,” Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRqh7_ThUVM
Think I prefer a headmaster to run the place rather than a stand-up comedian.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's all about probability. The risk tolerance of someone willing/brainwashed to burn all their cash and risk their life on a channel crossing is exceptionally high. Will the chance of being sent back to France be high enough to stop them taking that risk?
No.
And can we stop trying to portray these people as innocent victims of trafficking - it's so patronising as to border on racism. They are young, able, and making a rational decision to come here and better their lives as they see it. I wish to shut off that option for them, primarily because I wish to preserve the resources and integrity of our country, with the side benefit of stopping unsafe crossings. There's far too much bullshit about this topic on both sides of the debate.
Well you clearly know exactly who these people are and how they think. Remarkable demonstration of empathy beyond the norm.
Thanks - all it really took was getting more than three brain cells to work in conjunction - well worth a try if you have a spare afternoon.
I think I'd make a huge swathe of Universities into FE colleges in all but name, and I'd allow people to go there at 6th form age for 3 years. Learning trades, but also business/accountancy, technology subjects, design, vocational careers like nursing etc. And heavy emphasis on sport, sports science. Apprenticeship schemes running alongside. After the 3 years, you'd either enter the world of work, or do an MBA type thing. A few Institutes would do this. The Manchester Institute of Technology (our MIT) would be one. The whole stream would be called the Ivy League. I realise that that term means America's version of the elite universities, and it would strike an American and 'elitist' feel with emphasis on sports. Also emphasis on looking good - this is about entering the world of work. Uniform of chinos/chino skirts and navy blazers.
Without getting into detail, I'm not sure about "Ivy League" as a title - they are a tiny number of massively expensive institutions with a total undergraudate body of about 65k (AI answer, which sounds about right).
Just the two Nottingham Universities have nearly that many undergrads.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's all about probability. The risk tolerance of someone willing/brainwashed to burn all their cash and risk their life on a channel crossing is exceptionally high. Will the chance of being sent back to France be high enough to stop them taking that risk?
No.
And can we stop trying to portray these people as innocent victims of trafficking - it's so patronising as to border on racism. They are young, able, and making a rational decision to come here and better their lives as they see it. I wish to shut off that option for them, primarily because I wish to preserve the resources and integrity of our country, with the side benefit of stopping unsafe crossings. There's far too much bullshit about this topic on both sides of the debate.
Some are certainly making a rational economic decision, some are just opportunistic criminals, some are genuine asylum seekers, others are clearly being misled by the gangs - at the very least. It varies by nationality, by gender and so on. I don't think you can make a broad assumption about them either way.
There was a really good documentary about the disaster where all those Vietnamese people died in the lorry. It wasn't exclusive - they were making a rational economic decision based on a stream of nonsense peddled by the traffickers.
That would be a difficult result for Plaid. I assume they wouldn’t be prepared to work with Reform. They would be despised if they kept Labour in power against the electorate’s wishes. However, Would Labour ally with Reform to keep themselves in power? Would Reform let them?
Looks more like Sir Keir to me, to be honest. Got that sort of vacant glare he specialises in. But that might be interesting so I am probably wrong about that.
“Starmer often seems like a headmaster in assembly, whereas Nigel Farage comes across as a stand-up comedian.”
From “coercion” to “rigidity,” linguistics expert Dr Geoff Lindsey compares the speech of the “diametric opposites,” Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRqh7_ThUVM
I'll grant I am not a linguistics expect but as a layman I cannot say I get stand-up comedian vibes from Farage.
Looks more like Sir Keir to me, to be honest. Got that sort of vacant glare he specialises in. But that might be interesting so I am probably wrong about that.
“Starmer often seems like a headmaster in assembly, whereas Nigel Farage comes across as a stand-up comedian.”
From “coercion” to “rigidity,” linguistics expert Dr Geoff Lindsey compares the speech of the “diametric opposites,” Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRqh7_ThUVM
Think I prefer a headmaster to run the place rather than a stand-up comedian.
Looks more like Sir Keir to me, to be honest. Got that sort of vacant glare he specialises in. But that might be interesting so I am probably wrong about that.
“Starmer often seems like a headmaster in assembly, whereas Nigel Farage comes across as a stand-up comedian.”
From “coercion” to “rigidity,” linguistics expert Dr Geoff Lindsey compares the speech of the “diametric opposites,” Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRqh7_ThUVM
Think I prefer a headmaster to run the place rather than a stand-up comedian.
Particularly when the stand-up comedian has the sophistication of Bernard Manning or Royston Vesey.
There’s a bigger story in the Guardian. The total collapse of entry level graduate jobs. It’s mayhem out there
Universities are doomed. We need to tell our kids to go elsewhere, learn a trade, don’t take on all that debt
Yup, I flashed up the warning signs on here about a year ago and got told I was being ridiculous. I said it again a few months ago that kids today would be better off learning something practical rather than something behind a desk. Again the usual suspects told me I was being alarmist and that "junior lawyers" would still earn more than anyone who did a trade, ignoring the fact that there's only about 300 spots per year for in magic circle graduate schemes.
The talent pipeline in the UK has completely collapsed at the top of the funnel. There's hardly any junior hires for highly skilled careers and we're increasingly relying on the 2015-2019 graduate cohorts to fill mid and senior roles whole those who graduated since 2020 are struggling to get meaningful junior roles to start their careers.
Once again I'll say it, if you've got kids between 12 and 16 you should advise them to pick something practical or vocational that isn't easy to automate. I have two and one on the way, o genuinely have no idea what the world will look like by the time they're 16 and making those big life choices, I just have to hope everything is settled by then and career choices/pathways are easier.
It’s extraordinary how little this is discussed
Just one outcome is the collapse in the university sector (I know I’ve mentioned it before but look - now it’s coming true)
Kids are not going to take on £££ of debt if they 1. Learning nothing while at uni and 2. There aren’t any jobs at the end anyway
There’s a really compelling quote in that guardian article
“One of the few responses [this new graduate] has received so far was a rejection email explaining that 2,000 other people had applied for the role. “I feel very disheartened and, frankly, lied to,” Martyna said. “Both of my degrees seem useless. My parents came here from Poland, and I have £90,000 in student debt – for what?
“They told us: ‘If you don’t go to university, you could be working in McDonald’s.’ I went to university and applied to be a barista, and was rejected for lack of experience. I have considered going back to Poland.””
We have sold our kids a pup. Many unis will close. Lord knows what that will do to all the towns and cities where the uni is a major or even dominant employer
The only guaranteed sign of the impending academogeddon will be when PBers proudly boast of their sprogs’ plumbing apprenticeships and thriving careers in the fish processing industry. So far, so no show.
Lol, yes. It's other people's kids who need to make this far-sighted choice. Ours will sacrifice their prospects by insisting on going to uni.
But they won’t. Only a few rich kids will go to uni (to get laid and network). Everyone else won’t bother. You don’t learn anything, there are no grad jobs at the end, you rack up debt
It’s like PB can’t grasp basic economic facts
Your vision for unis is similar to mine for private schools. Either, both or neither could be right. But there's a fair amount of wishful thinking in there from both of us, I think.
No there isn’t. (SNIP)
I actively dislike what I’m predicting. I don’t want universities to die. They are wonderful things - I went to a great uni and it changed my life
The difference is I can EXTRAPOLATE and I don’t go into denial, I can see what’s coming down the line - and it’s the end of the university as we have known it, for 80-90% of people
I hope we can find some replacement that is equally enriching. I still like my idea of the government funding some kind of gap year/national service
You’re paid a small wage to do good works overseas for 6 months, in return the government will give you a small stipend to backpack the other 6 months
That would be enriching for all and produce more rounded 20 year olds
Ok, I've edited out the stupid bit
I'd say you left quite a lot of it in, as a matter of fact.
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
I took only the first piece of that advice, and yes I'd probably have done well to have complied with all of it.
Didn't pick a subject that interested me. Didn't stay clear of excessive alcohol consumption.
Where were you when I needed you?
I wouldn't be advising anyone to go to university unless they were very clear where it was taking them. £50k plus of debt is a lot for dabbling in a subject because it interests you. If I had sons rather than daughters I'd be advising them to learn a trade. But it doesn't really seem a thing that girls do.
So, brass tacks, are you in actual fact planning to steer your kids away from uni?
This is what we're looking for, me and TUD and MexPete. An affluent, middle-class PBer who's walking the walk as well as talking the talk.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's all about probability. The risk tolerance of someone willing/brainwashed to burn all their cash and risk their life on a channel crossing is exceptionally high. Will the chance of being sent back to France be high enough to stop them taking that risk?
No.
And can we stop trying to portray these people as innocent victims of trafficking - it's so patronising as to border on racism. They are young, able, and making a rational decision to come here and better their lives as they see it. I wish to shut off that option for them, primarily because I wish to preserve the resources and integrity of our country, with the side benefit of stopping unsafe crossings. There's far too much bullshit about this topic on both sides of the debate.
Some are certainly making a rational economic decision, some are just opportunistic criminals, some are genuine asylum seekers, others are clearly being misled by the gangs - at the very least. It varies by nationality, by gender and so on. I don't think you can make a broad assumption about them either way.
But all too often that is the way out political discourse and decision-making treats it. Many do regard the suggestion any are opportunistic as wrong and even racist. That wouldn't make an assumption all are that way correct, but all or nothing seems to be the common way of approaching the topic.
Quite an interesting 8 minute video from Art of Law on reclaiming of artwork looted by Nazis, and related law.
(I did not know that Elizabeth Taylor had one, which she kept because of wrinkles around "statute of limitations". More recently there was a ruling based on the confiscation having been legal at the time in Germany.)
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
But this is elitist PB.
Persuade my lazy arsed offspring to become tradesmen* whilst trailing their little geniuses around St Andrews. I suppose they could always become Princess Kate.
Their idea to close all the non-Russell Group universities down and send other people's children to technical college for a trade is doubtless sound advice for the scumbag class (although not necessarily for themselves).
*Who will require the services of all these tradespeople? Surely even all the million pound earners on PB each need only one chippy, one sparky, one brickie and one plumber and at irregular intervals.
It's not "an idea" or a "proposal" you chippy little prole, it's just the facts
Going to uni is increasingly pointless, and self harming (the debt, the opportunity cost). Ergo, students will stop going: they will leave school at 18, most unis will shut
I don't disagree with your notions that I a am a chippy proletarian and that universities are facing an existential crisis.
I don't want to be lectured by you and other PB right wing elitists who suggest that my scumbag offspring should train as binmen or road sweepers whilst you are ignoring your own advice by taking ( quite rightly) your child to check our St Andrews, and good on you for that.
P.S. I bet it woz Lucky wot giv you the like!
You don't understand. I'd give the same advice to my own kids, if they were willing to listen
Looks more like Sir Keir to me, to be honest. Got that sort of vacant glare he specialises in. But that might be interesting so I am probably wrong about that.
“Starmer often seems like a headmaster in assembly, whereas Nigel Farage comes across as a stand-up comedian.”
From “coercion” to “rigidity,” linguistics expert Dr Geoff Lindsey compares the speech of the “diametric opposites,” Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRqh7_ThUVM
Think I prefer a headmaster to run the place rather than a stand-up comedian.
Particularly when the stand-up comedian has the sophistication of Bernard Manning or Royston Vesey.
Just checking you didn’t think Royston Vesey is a comedian rather than a fictional town?
Looks more like Sir Keir to me, to be honest. Got that sort of vacant glare he specialises in. But that might be interesting so I am probably wrong about that.
“Starmer often seems like a headmaster in assembly, whereas Nigel Farage comes across as a stand-up comedian.”
From “coercion” to “rigidity,” linguistics expert Dr Geoff Lindsey compares the speech of the “diametric opposites,” Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRqh7_ThUVM
Think I prefer a headmaster to run the place rather than a stand-up comedian.
Zelenskyy was a comedian Putin was a KGB henchman
Didn't Zelensky used to do Gregg Wallace style cock gags? Or an I just thinking of Gregg Wallace?
Looks more like Sir Keir to me, to be honest. Got that sort of vacant glare he specialises in. But that might be interesting so I am probably wrong about that.
“Starmer often seems like a headmaster in assembly, whereas Nigel Farage comes across as a stand-up comedian.”
From “coercion” to “rigidity,” linguistics expert Dr Geoff Lindsey compares the speech of the “diametric opposites,” Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRqh7_ThUVM
Think I prefer a headmaster to run the place rather than a stand-up comedian.
Zelenskyy was a comedian Putin was a KGB henchman
Didn't Zelensky used to do Gregg Wallace style cock gags? Or an I just thinking of Gregg Wallace?
He (Zelensky) mimed playing the piano with his penis. At least I assume it was mimed.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's all about probability. The risk tolerance of someone willing/brainwashed to burn all their cash and risk their life on a channel crossing is exceptionally high. Will the chance of being sent back to France be high enough to stop them taking that risk?
The scheme is predicated on the fact neither the refugee taken in from France, nor the one sent there, can be deported back to their country of origin. In other words these are genuine asylum seekers. Given that it, it enables two things useful to the British and French governments respectively. It reduces the number of boat crossings as anyone sent back to France once can be immediately returned. It keeps asylum seekers away from Calais as they will be returned to another part of France.
Doubtful that it reduces the overall number of asylum seekers coming to this country but it shouldn't increase the number either.
That would be a difficult result for Plaid. I assume they wouldn’t be prepared to work with Reform. They would be despised if they kept Labour in power against the electorate’s wishes. However, Would Labour ally with Reform to keep themselves in power? Would Reform let them?
Welsh Labour are completely cynical and very stupid. So the answer to your first question is yes, given half a chance.
However, their electorate would immediately stampede to Plaid. So they wouldn't do it in practice unless they had decided to commit mass sepukka.
I think actually that would be the perfect result for Plaid. They would put forward their own candidate for FM secure in the knowledge that the Tories will not back them and Reform will therefore form the government, and let them crash and burn. Then Plaid emerge as the largest remaining party from the wreckage.
There are risks involved (as Annabel Goldie might note) but just tying with Labour in second or supplanting them would be a terrific result.
Looks more like Sir Keir to me, to be honest. Got that sort of vacant glare he specialises in. But that might be interesting so I am probably wrong about that.
“Starmer often seems like a headmaster in assembly, whereas Nigel Farage comes across as a stand-up comedian.”
From “coercion” to “rigidity,” linguistics expert Dr Geoff Lindsey compares the speech of the “diametric opposites,” Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRqh7_ThUVM
Think I prefer a headmaster to run the place rather than a stand-up comedian.
Particularly when the stand-up comedian has the sophistication of Bernard Manning or Royston Vesey.
Just checking you didn’t think Royston Vesey is a comedian rather than a fictional town?
Not thinking of Roy “Chubby” Brown by any chance?
I take it back, Royston Vesey is his real name, my apologies.
I had my boiler replaced recently and got chatting to the engineer when he took a break. Usual 'what is it you do?' chat. I explained I messed around with computers, and 'AI' at the moment.
Then he showed me the custom GPT's he'd made, raved about 'AI', a custom application he'd "vibe coded" and shared with his other engineers at work to help them plan work, ordering parts, etc. Some of the GPTs have all their training material, safety manuals, tips and tricks embedded in it. Said it could sometimes save hours of a day instead of having to look up terrible, clunky manufacturer websites, or worse - being on the phone to their call-centres.
Really struck me that it was quietly becoming pervasive in ways I don't think are being picked up in surveys - possibly as no-one has thought to survey non-white-collar workers about it.
Indeed. An awful lot of the hype around AI is just hot air, but LLMs with custom training can be seriously useful. I remember the revolution visual coding was back in the 90s - you could just design what your user interface looked like and then hook those bits together with some simple code. Suddenly the reduced effort to knock up simple apps made them viable in all sorts of places traditional coding would just be too much effort and money to be viable. AI is taking that to a new level.
That will have significant effects, both good and bad.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb came in second place in a triathlon competition, in which he participated incognito under the pseudonym AS, - Ilta-Sanomat
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
But this is elitist PB.
Persuade my lazy arsed offspring to become tradesmen* whilst trailing their little geniuses around St Andrews. I suppose they could always become Princess Kate.
Their idea to close all the non-Russell Group universities down and send other people's children to technical college for a trade is doubtless sound advice for the scumbag class (although not necessarily for themselves).
*Who will require the services of all these tradespeople? Surely even all the million pound earners on PB each need only one chippy, one sparky, one brickie and one plumber and at irregular intervals.
It's not "an idea" or a "proposal" you chippy little prole, it's just the facts
Going to uni is increasingly pointless, and self harming (the debt, the opportunity cost). Ergo, students will stop going: they will leave school at 18, most unis will shut
I don't disagree with your notions that I a am a chippy proletarian and that universities are facing an existential crisis.
I don't want to be lectured by you and other PB right wing elitists who suggest that my scumbag offspring should train as binmen or road sweepers whilst you are ignoring your own advice by taking ( quite rightly) your child to check our St Andrews, and good on you for that.
P.S. I bet it woz Lucky wot giv you the like!
You don't understand. I'd give the same advice to my own kids, if they were willing to listen
But did you?
Yes. I told them “there is virtually no point in doing university any more as almost every cognitive role and screen based job will be gone in a decade. So you’ll be acquiring loads of debt for little reason”
Then they started to cry so I sighed and said “just do what you love”
That said the eldest is turning out to be SO smart she might just be in the cerebral elite that does OK. The youngest, I worry
On this super-hot, sunny Arctic day, it seems Rawnsley too is away, his Sunday commentary spot covered by Philip Collins:
British politics…is in a state of confusion. No party is at all close to commanding the nation. The slow dissolve of Labour and Tory was dramatised last week by Jake Berry and Zarah Sultana, who between them make up the high-end muesli that British politics has become.
The decline of the Conservative party is a consummation that has been devoutly wished on the left of British politics for a long time and may be just as devoutly regretted once it happens. Into the space once occupied by Tories will slide something worse, probably led by Robert Jenrick. One of the jobs of the Tory party is to contain the noxious right. The Labour party is supposed to do the same on the left but it is cracking too.
In Britain the shake-up is causing a confused mess that will have to be settled after a general election. Small-party politics will lead to coalition politics. The public has yet to fully comprehend the implications of its own rupture but the prospect of various coalitions is beginning to gain traction. This will become the conversation of British politics in the second half of this parliamentary term.
The really fun option is the grand coalition – Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat – and, as outlandish as it sounds, that is an option to watch, perhaps not under the current leaders but in time to come.
The only way to avoid this conversation is for a small party to get big again. That is the privilege, as well as the responsibility, of government. To choose, to act, to be as big as possible while the walls of politics are coming in. For the moment, we are caught betwixt and between, with legacy parties that too few people want, which nobody would now invent but which are doomed to live on as best they can. We need them to manage the change.
Antonio Gramsci put it best: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born; now is the time of monsters”.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb came in second place in a triathlon competition, in which he participated incognito under the pseudonym AS, - Ilta-Sanomat
It would be wrong to assume that the crisis of trust is limited to politicians. Most segments distrust journalists and big business and we are split on judges, with more socially conservative segments less trusting. Scientists are an exception & remain trusted across the board.
As things stand, are there any big name Labour MPs whose seats are safe?
Starmer?
Lab still have a firm grasp on London going by the yougov MRP, outwith around 8 lib dem seats in SW London. some northern outskirts Hendon, Harrow maybe City of Westminster won by the Tories
It would be wrong to assume that the crisis of trust is limited to politicians. Most segments distrust journalists and big business and we are split on judges, with more socially conservative segments less trusting. Scientists are an exception & remain trusted across the board.
Occasionally, my A-level students ask me for vocational advice. They must look at me and think this bloke is doing all right for himself, he must know something. Not realising that I have spent my entire adult life falling arse backwards into money via various inheritances.
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
But this is elitist PB.
Persuade my lazy arsed offspring to become tradesmen* whilst trailing their little geniuses around St Andrews. I suppose they could always become Princess Kate.
Their idea to close all the non-Russell Group universities down and send other people's children to technical college for a trade is doubtless sound advice for the scumbag class (although not necessarily for themselves).
*Who will require the services of all these tradespeople? Surely even all the million pound earners on PB each need only one chippy, one sparky, one brickie and one plumber and at irregular intervals.
It's not "an idea" or a "proposal" you chippy little prole, it's just the facts
Going to uni is increasingly pointless, and self harming (the debt, the opportunity cost). Ergo, students will stop going: they will leave school at 18, most unis will shut
I don't disagree with your notions that I a am a chippy proletarian and that universities are facing an existential crisis.
I don't want to be lectured by you and other PB right wing elitists who suggest that my scumbag offspring should train as binmen or road sweepers whilst you are ignoring your own advice by taking ( quite rightly) your child to check our St Andrews, and good on you for that.
P.S. I bet it woz Lucky wot giv you the like!
You don't understand. I'd give the same advice to my own kids, if they were willing to listen
But did you?
Yes. I told them “there is virtually no point in doing university any more as almost every cognitive role and screen based job will be gone in a decade. So you’ll be acquiring loads of debt for little reason”
Then they started to cry so I sighed and said “just do what you love”
That said the eldest is turning out to be SO smart she might just be in the cerebral elite that does OK. The youngest, I worry
Once more, with feeling:
It's not a debt in the standard sense that individuals are all expected to pay it back. It's a picky distinction, but it matters.
And if we are headed for a robot apocalypse where none of us have work to do, better to enter it with as well-furnished a mind as possible.
Looks more like Sir Keir to me, to be honest. Got that sort of vacant glare he specialises in. But that might be interesting so I am probably wrong about that.
“Starmer often seems like a headmaster in assembly, whereas Nigel Farage comes across as a stand-up comedian.”
From “coercion” to “rigidity,” linguistics expert Dr Geoff Lindsey compares the speech of the “diametric opposites,” Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRqh7_ThUVM
Think I prefer a headmaster to run the place rather than a stand-up comedian.
Particularly when the stand-up comedian has the sophistication of Bernard Manning or Royston Vesey.
Just checking you didn’t think Royston Vesey is a comedian rather than a fictional town?
Not thinking of Roy “Chubby” Brown by any chance?
Isn't the fictional village named after Roy"Chubby" Brown? Or did I get that wrong?
It would be wrong to assume that the crisis of trust is limited to politicians. Most segments distrust journalists and big business and we are split on judges, with more socially conservative segments less trusting. Scientists are an exception & remain trusted across the board.
It would be wrong to assume that the crisis of trust is limited to politicians. Most segments distrust journalists and big business and we are split on judges, with more socially conservative segments less trusting. Scientists are an exception & remain trusted across the board.
Looks more like Sir Keir to me, to be honest. Got that sort of vacant glare he specialises in. But that might be interesting so I am probably wrong about that.
“Starmer often seems like a headmaster in assembly, whereas Nigel Farage comes across as a stand-up comedian.”
From “coercion” to “rigidity,” linguistics expert Dr Geoff Lindsey compares the speech of the “diametric opposites,” Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRqh7_ThUVM
Think I prefer a headmaster to run the place rather than a stand-up comedian.
Zelenskyy was a comedian Putin was a KGB henchman
Didn't Zelensky used to do Gregg Wallace style cock gags? Or an I just thinking of Gregg Wallace?
He (Zelensky) mimed playing the piano with his penis. At least I assume it was mimed.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's all about probability. The risk tolerance of someone willing/brainwashed to burn all their cash and risk their life on a channel crossing is exceptionally high. Will the chance of being sent back to France be high enough to stop them taking that risk?
The scheme is predicated on the fact neither the refugee taken in from France, nor the one sent there, can be deported back to their country of origin. In other words these are genuine asylum seekers. Given that it, it enables two things useful to the British and French governments respectively. It reduces the number of boat crossings as anyone sent back to France once can be immediately returned. It keeps asylum seekers away from Calais as they will be returned to another part of France.
Doubtful that it reduces the overall number of asylum seekers coming to this country but it shouldn't increase the number either.
I suppose if every boat person was sent back to France then it would eventually reduce the numbers coming here because the UK would no longer have to accept the substitutes either. Which France might perceive as a problem. I'm sure it can be negotiated - ie UK still takes refugees from France without a corresponding arrival by boat, but presentationally tricky.
People are right to be angry when they see others disrespecting our laws.
Now, those who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started.
That is a real deterrent.
It's not remotely a deterrent. They will just come over again.
I don't think that is necessarily true. It's not free and the aslyos frequently drop their entire bundle on paying for a crossing.
It's all about probability. The risk tolerance of someone willing/brainwashed to burn all their cash and risk their life on a channel crossing is exceptionally high. Will the chance of being sent back to France be high enough to stop them taking that risk?
The scheme is predicated on the fact neither the refugee taken in from France, nor the one sent there, can be deported back to their country of origin. In other words these are genuine asylum seekers. Given that it, it enables two things useful to the British and French governments respectively. It reduces the number of boat crossings as anyone sent back to France once can be immediately returned. It keeps asylum seekers away from Calais as they will be returned to another part of France.
Doubtful that it reduces the overall number of asylum seekers coming to this country but it shouldn't increase the number either.
I suppose if every boat person was sent back to France then it would eventually reduce the numbers coming here because the UK would no longer have to accept the substitutes either. Which France might perceive as a problem. I'm sure it can be negotiated - ie UK still takes refugees from France without a corresponding arrival by boat, but presentationally tricky.
Looks more like Sir Keir to me, to be honest. Got that sort of vacant glare he specialises in. But that might be interesting so I am probably wrong about that.
“Starmer often seems like a headmaster in assembly, whereas Nigel Farage comes across as a stand-up comedian.”
From “coercion” to “rigidity,” linguistics expert Dr Geoff Lindsey compares the speech of the “diametric opposites,” Sir Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRqh7_ThUVM
Think I prefer a headmaster to run the place rather than a stand-up comedian.
Zelenskyy was a comedian Putin was a KGB henchman
Didn't Zelensky used to do Gregg Wallace style cock gags? Or an I just thinking of Gregg Wallace?
He (Zelensky) mimed playing the piano with his penis. At least I assume it was mimed.
I bet Gregg regrets not thinking of that one first.
That Guardian article about AI tanking the graduate job market has an interesting comment from a recruitment consultant saying that the ability to read, write, and form an analysis without using the internet are now "elite skills." Wouldn't it be great if we had degree subjects that teach just that?
Perhaps the result of AI is that we lose our intelligence.
The owners of paper books will be king - they're the only people that can be even close to certain about facts.
I'm currently (and slowly) slinging out my books. Even the recycling centre has given up on the idea of saving them for reuse and resale and now just directs people to the cardboard skip.
But there is an interesting finding that AI makes programmers faster.
LOL. Scooped by rkrkrk with a different link to the same study.
Got any old linux/unix/C stuff?
Let me know if you have a wishlist. A complete (maybe) set of Stevens, for instance.
For sure, I'm getting into systems programming and find the old stuff v-interesting. Don't want to put you out but I'd love to see what your throwing and maybe save it from the shredder. Anything network, systems programming, kernel stuff, C and advanced C etc etc would work.
Where roughly in the country are you? Logistics might be a killer.
North Yorks, Harrogate area. Happy to pay!
Miles away. Give me a couple of days to compile some sort of list.
Comments
1 WG Grace 62% 19th century
2 D Jardine 60% Bodyline
3 B Stokes 58%
I always tell them to go to university, study something that interests them and don't waste their time, money or energy with alcohol.
Trip to Ukraine next month though, might post some updates then…
Finnish President Alexander Stubb came in second place in a triathlon competition, in which he participated incognito under the pseudonym AS, - Ilta-Sanomat
His name was announced after the finish line.
He swam 750 meters, cycled 20 kilometers and ran five kilometers in 1:04:19.
https://x.com/front_ukrainian/status/1944014617568493967
Muhbeen Hussain called on Muslims in Rotherham to sever ties because South Yorkshire police was ‘scapegoating’ them
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/mbe-muslim-police-boycott-grooming-scandal-xl8l0lgmg (£££)
That's Reform levels of vetting by the gongs committee.
ETA or a clickbait headline. I've not read the story.
Persuade my lazy arsed offspring to become tradesmen* whilst trailing their little geniuses around St Andrews. I suppose they could always become Princess Kate.
Their idea to close all the non-Russell Group universities down and send other people's children to technical college for a trade is doubtless sound advice for the scumbag class (although not necessarily for themselves).
*Who will require the services of all these tradespeople? Surely even all the million pound earners on PB each need only one chippy, one sparky, one brickie and one plumber and at irregular intervals.
Didn't pick a subject that interested me. Didn't stay clear of excessive alcohol consumption.
Where were you when I needed you?
LEAs can merge the schools in their management, academies would simply close. In either instance, the land and buildings revert to the local council and given many schools are in good sites for redevelopment, we can build more houses for the childless couples or proper accommodation for the elderly enabling them to downsize out of their impractical four and five bedroom houses.
The SEN problem will resolve itself in time as there will be fewer children to be referred thus less need for specialist accommodation and for specialist home to school transport services.
As for the Universities, it affects the University town as much as it does the academic establishment itself. I'd argue the student money spent on services in towns like Norwich and Kingston (to name but two) is vital for the local economy so cutting the number of students piles further pressure on an already beleaguered retail estate.
One benefit is as the numbers on school rolls fall, the requirement to spend money on education falls with it so we can off set some (not much) of our increased spending on defence and the elderly by reducing education expenditure.
Meanwhile, we have to take another migrant that we now can't send back.
I didn't think it was possible to dislike the useless tit more.
Or so he says.
Going to uni is increasingly pointless, and self harming (the debt, the opportunity cost). Ergo, students will stop going: they will leave school at 18, most unis will shut
If I had sons rather than daughters I'd be advising them to learn a trade. But it doesn't really seem a thing that girls do.
Someone will still need to be the certified engineer, with a revocable certificate, that signs off of building stuff that can kill people if it fails.
No government is going to let AI certify a bridge or an aircraft any time soon.
I don't want to be lectured by you and other PB right wing elitists who suggest that my scumbag offspring should train as binmen or road sweepers whilst you are ignoring your own advice by taking ( quite rightly) your child to check our St Andrews, and good on you for that.
P.S. I bet it woz Lucky wot giv you the like!
(Me, I dunno. But it seems to have fewer legal hurdles, lower cost and more capacity than the Rwanda scheme did. It's not obvious that it's worse than that.)
Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️
@LeftieStats
·
3h
🚨 Projected result in Yvette Cooper's seat:
➡️ REF – 45% (+16)
🔴 LAB – 32% (-15)
🔵 CON – 11% (-4)
🟢 GRN – 7% (+2)
🟠 LD – 4% (+1)
Reform GAIN from Labour (16% swing)
- https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8554397-creating-a-gpt
- https://customgpt.ai/create-a-custom-gpt/
- https://www.weavely.ai/blog/what-are-custom-gpts-how-they-work-and-why-you-should-use-them
- https://clickup.com/blog/how-to-create-a-custom-gpt/
(Is this similar to Google NotebookLM?)It makes me sad. Sheffield is one of my favourite cities. It had come a long way since I lived there in the 90s. But it feels like it has regressed about 25 years in the last 12 months.
And can we stop trying to portray these people as innocent victims of trafficking - it's so patronising as to border on racism. They are young, able, and making a rational decision to come here and better their lives as they see it. I wish to shut off that option for them, primarily because I wish to preserve the resources and integrity of our country, with the side benefit of stopping unsafe crossings. There's far too much bullshit about this topic on both sides of the debate.
Your 'extrapolation' tends to be too linear. You'll see or read about a trend and always take it to the max without giving enough weight to mitigations and uncertainties.
But that's a general comment. Perhaps you're right on this one. I doubt it, but you might be. And, ok, so you don't get a secret little glow from the idea of the whole lefty woke uni sector coming a cropper. I think you do but since I know it irritates when I claim this sort of spooky insight into another's head, and I don't wish to irritate, I'll retract that.
The idea of funded VSO type work has merit imo. Lots of young people could benefit from that.
There, I put it back in
So it's a feeble deal to return 3 dinghy dudes a month, and the EU might still nix it, and it only lasts a year
That's Starmer's "deal". Presumably this is costing us £2000,000,00,000000
Checking, "Wilful obstruction" under S137 HWA1980 is a summary fine, and can be a ticket. Not sure on points.
HWA1980 S137 is used for all sorts of things; I use it for unlawful barriers, to make the Highways Authority take action. I have my eye on using it for advertising boards left blocking 30-60% of the pavement where there used to be phone boxes on what is now a shared cycling / walking pavement. It is also used for demonstrators, though it was not the provision used to muller Extinction Rebellion.
There is also "leaving a vehicle in a dangerous place" which is 3 points as well, and could apply eg to presence on white lines at a zebra crossing, or imo here. Mr Loophole would perhaps argue that a charging cable "is not part of the vehicle".
In practice police forces often have slopey-shouldered excuses as to why it is the Local Council, not them.
Here's an extract from a Leicester Council summary. If you follow up there is quite a bit of verbiage trimming on the application of the law:
1. Current Police Guidance
1.1 Offences of unnecessary and wilful obstruction do exist, and do sit in the Police domain. Proceedings for obstructing the highway (including pavements) can be instituted under the following legislation:
Wilful Obstruction of the Highway • Section 137 Highways Act 1980 • Fine Level 3 • Fixed Penalty Summary Offence.
Unnecessary Obstruction • Section 42 Road Traffic Act 1988 • Fine Level 3 • Fixed Penalty Summary Offence.
Leaving Vehicles in Dangerous Position • Section 22 Road Traffic Act 1988 • Fine Level 3 • Fixed Penalty Summary Offence that carries 3 penalty points and requires service of a Notice of Intended Prosecution.
https://cabinet.leicester.gov.uk/documents/s63157/Evidence - Police.pdf
England all out for 249
It won't be enough, India to win
https://x.com/LeftieStats/status/1944378998391177512
🏴 Senedd seat projection (June 2025):
➡️ REF – 30 (+30)
🟩 PLAID – 27 (+5)
🔴 LAB – 27 (-17)
🔵 CON – 11 (-19)
🟠 LD – 1 (+1)
+/- vs 2021 notional results with new boundaries
That looks too high for Labour and too low for Reform and the Conservatives.
Just the two Nottingham Universities have nearly that many undergrads.
"Polytechnics"?
There was a really good documentary about the disaster where all those Vietnamese people died in the lorry. It wasn't exclusive - they were making a rational economic decision based on a stream of nonsense peddled by the traffickers.
Putin was a KGB henchman
This is what we're looking for, me and TUD and MexPete. An affluent, middle-class PBer who's walking the walk as well as talking the talk.
Could you be the one who steps up and delivers?
(I did not know that Elizabeth Taylor had one, which she kept because of wrinkles around "statute of limitations". More recently there was a ruling based on the confiscation having been legal at the time in Germany.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v4-mpi65fk
Not thinking of Roy “Chubby” Brown by any chance?
Doubtful that it reduces the overall number of asylum seekers coming to this country but it shouldn't increase the number either.
However, their electorate would immediately stampede to Plaid. So they wouldn't do it in practice unless they had decided to commit mass sepukka.
I think actually that would be the perfect result for Plaid. They would put forward their own candidate for FM secure in the knowledge that the Tories will not back them and Reform will therefore form the government, and let them crash and burn. Then Plaid emerge as the largest remaining party from the wreckage.
There are risks involved (as Annabel Goldie might note) but just tying with Labour in second or supplanting them would be a terrific result.
That will have significant effects, both good and bad.
The coprolite that could not be polished.
Then they started to cry so I sighed and said “just do what you love”
That said the eldest is turning out to be SO smart she might just be in the cerebral elite that does OK. The youngest, I worry
British politics…is in a state of confusion. No party is at all close to commanding the nation. The slow dissolve of Labour and Tory was dramatised last week by Jake Berry and Zarah Sultana, who between them make up the high-end muesli that British politics has become.
The decline of the Conservative party is a consummation that has been devoutly wished on the left of British politics for a long time and may be just as devoutly regretted once it happens. Into the space once occupied by Tories will slide something worse, probably led by Robert Jenrick. One of the jobs of the Tory party is to contain the noxious right. The Labour party is supposed to do the same on the left but it is cracking too.
In Britain the shake-up is causing a confused mess that will have to be settled after a general election. Small-party politics will lead to coalition politics. The public has yet to fully comprehend the implications of its own rupture but the prospect of various coalitions is beginning to gain traction. This will become the conversation of British politics in the second half of this parliamentary term.
The really fun option is the grand coalition – Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat – and, as outlandish as it sounds, that is an option to watch, perhaps not under the current leaders but in time to come.
The only way to avoid this conversation is for a small party to get big again. That is the privilege, as well as the responsibility, of government. To choose, to act, to be as big as possible while the walls of politics are coming in. For the moment, we are caught betwixt and between, with legacy parties that too few people want, which nobody would now invent but which are doomed to live on as best they can. We need them to manage the change.
Antonio Gramsci put it best: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born; now is the time of monsters”.
In fact it would have won, by over five minutes, the sprint triathlon I did last weekend. Though that was a 25km ride, not 20km.
https://bsky.app/profile/luketryl.bsky.social/post/3lttp4awqyk24
On one hand, yay scientists.
On the other, have you lot met scientists? Half of us are away with the fairies most of the time .
Lab still have a firm grasp on London going by the yougov MRP, outwith around 8 lib dem seats in SW London. some northern outskirts Hendon, Harrow maybe City of Westminster won by the Tories
I'm intrigued that it's the more 'socially conservative' distrust judges. You would generally expect it to be the other way around.
It's not a debt in the standard sense that individuals are all expected to pay it back. It's a picky distinction, but it matters.
And if we are headed for a robot apocalypse where none of us have work to do, better to enter it with as well-furnished a mind as possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsAghFTta5Q
President Zelensky on the old joanna:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_UWafVKjLw&t=107s
https://x.com/robertjenrick/status/1944385240127967643