It would be a fair criticism of me that I get a lot of my opinions from The Spectator, because it's really the one bit of the media I read the most. And I think the first thing I read about a topic, if it reads convincingly, usually becomes my opinion till something else comes along.
So I am now officially against Northern Powerhouse Rail. I was all for it, till I read this fairly damning account of it, which is basically that it's not going to do anything for the North, because it's basically more of the HS2 project, just gussied up by Obsborne to look like his own genius levelling up scheme.
Osborne did that a lot. The OBR for example was meant to be a great way to ensure Tory style fiscal rectitude, but it wasn't - it was actually a quango designed to ready us for monetary union. Northern Powerhouse Rail sounds brilliant, but it turns out:
Called Northern Powerhouse Rail, this section alone will cost a claimed £17 billion (in reality, perhaps £30 billion). It will be a high-speed railway on which trains can never reach high speeds, because the stations are too close together. It will leave Manchester via a vastly expensive new eight-mile tunnel in the wrong direction – roughly south, only then turning west towards Liverpool, hence the longer journey time. The official reason for doing it like this is to serve Manchester Airport. But the ‘airport’ station would be almost a mile away from the airport. You’d have to transfer by bus.
So until another, better take comes along, I'm adopting Gilligan's view that NPR is shite and we should do a Queen Elizabeth line for Northern England instead. We're out of the EU now, we can do what the populace actually needs, not continue with their ludicrous grand projets and have to pretend they're working for people.
So what's the gist? Build the same new track but for slow stoppers not high speed?
Build a low speed railway that actually stops where you want it for a fraction of the cost.
The north’s main rail capacity problem is not on links (lines between cities) but at nodes – chokepoints, above all central Manchester, where the trains all converge on some of Britain’s most congested track. Northern Powerhouse Rail (eight trains per hour, not connected to any of the existing lines) would, of course, help to relieve this congestion. But an Elizabeth line (up to 30 trains per hour, like its London sister, and connected to most or all of the existing lines) would help far more, at a fraction of the price.
High-speed rail is transport for the establishment, for businesspeople and politicians travelling between the big cities
Trains on the Elizabeth line would serve about 80 stations across the north-west, Yorkshire and Humberside.
Oh, wait, it's BBC QT and guess who they have on tonight. Amazingly not Farage but Tice.
Maybe they think that equates to not having Farage on and so doesn't count as to the endless support for Reform.
Why would Reform not be on? They have a panel of politicians and like it or not, Reform got the third-most amount of votes at the last election and are topping the opinion polls.
20 years ago when I regularly watched QT the Lib Dems who were polling considerably less than Reform are polling were on every single week too.
They had Billy Bragg, Luke Evans, Lisa Nandy, Richard Tice and Munira Wilson. That includes one from each of the parties who polled above 10% at the GE.
I think the issue with Reform is that their stock of prominent politicians is very limited, so they get to make more personal appearances. That was also I think a (smaller) problem with respect to LibDems up until recently - but Lib Dems have a decent variety of peers from times past.
Looking up the numbers, there's a major political bias amongst the "non-politicians". This is the top list from 2014 to 2023. It may be that slebs would counterbalance this slightly, but there are none of those who make the list.
Name Appearances Isabel Oakeshott 13 Julia Hartley-Brewer 13 Kate Andrews 12 Tim Stanley 12 Camilla Tominey 10 Anne McElvoy 8 Theo Paphitis 8 Fraser Nelson 7 Melanie Phillips 7 Merryn Somerset Webb 7 Peter Hitchens 7 Piers Morgan 7 Zanny Minton Beddoes 7
It would be a fair criticism of me that I get a lot of my opinions from The Spectator, because it's really the one bit of the media I read the most. And I think the first thing I read about a topic, if it reads convincingly, usually becomes my opinion till something else comes along.
So I am now officially against Northern Powerhouse Rail. I was all for it, till I read this fairly damning account of it, which is basically that it's not going to do anything for the North, because it's basically more of the HS2 project, just gussied up by Obsborne to look like his own genius levelling up scheme.
Osborne did that a lot. The OBR for example was meant to be a great way to ensure Tory style fiscal rectitude, but it wasn't - it was actually a quango designed to ready us for monetary union. Northern Powerhouse Rail sounds brilliant, but it turns out:
Called Northern Powerhouse Rail, this section alone will cost a claimed £17 billion (in reality, perhaps £30 billion). It will be a high-speed railway on which trains can never reach high speeds, because the stations are too close together. It will leave Manchester via a vastly expensive new eight-mile tunnel in the wrong direction – roughly south, only then turning west towards Liverpool, hence the longer journey time. The official reason for doing it like this is to serve Manchester Airport. But the ‘airport’ station would be almost a mile away from the airport. You’d have to transfer by bus.
So until another, better take comes along, I'm adopting Gilligan's view that NPR is shite and we should do a Queen Elizabeth line for Northern England instead. We're out of the EU now, we can do what the populace actually needs, not continue with their ludicrous grand projets and have to pretend they're working for people.
Unusually, this is a subject I'm actually reasonably well-informed on (and I've read the Gilligan report). I think the below is a fair view - obviously I want the best outcome for GM and the North, so it is biased by that, but not, I hope, by anything else.
1) The Gilligan reiterates the old chestnut about journey times. NPR isn't primarily about journey times: it's about frequency and reliability. And a holistic network. Yes, you can get in 31 minutes from Lime Street to Victoria - but not desperately reliably, and at the expense of suburban services on the line. 2) The report says there are already two lines from Liverpool to Manchester (three if you include Headbolt Lane - which you can, but seems a stretch, because you'd need to reinstate a short bit of track for that to count). But that's normal between adjacent big cities - I think there are five routes between Glasgow and Edinburgh. 3) Prioritise local services, says Gilligan. But then suggests filling up the existing network with city to city links, which can only be done at the expense of local services. 4) But actually, better local services are what we all want. And that's the point of new high speed alignments: we provide new capacity, run the high speed services on that, and you can therefore run far more local services on the old network. A moment's thought will demonstrate this: with a mix of fast and slow trains, you need to leave a massive gap after the slow train leaves before you set the fast train off. If all your trains are of the same speed, you can run 15tph along a route, assuming sufficient capacity at stations. If it's a mix of fast and slow, it might be half that or less. NPR allows much better suburban services to run. This is the outcome Gilligan claims to want. ...(cont)...
4) Dig a shorter east-west tunnel, with branches off, says Gilligan. But actually tunnelling itself is not THAT expensive. What is expensive is undgerground grade separated junctions. And Gilligan appears to be proposing at least five. 5) You CAN'T get 30tph on a two-track underground railway. You just can't. The Castlefield corridor is creaking at 13-14. Thameslink gets no more than 18. 6) Yes, the Airport station is a short distance from the Airport - this is normal, Airports are large - but you don't need a bus link, there are already powers for extending the tram. (cf the Piccadilly line at Heathrow). This is a better outcome for those travelling from further afield eg Liverpool, Leeds, N. Wales than changing at Piccadilly. 6) All that said, actually, the SE-W tunnel Gilligan proposes, along with the regular radial routes out of Manchester, would be welcome. Indeed, rumour has it Network Rail are considering a similar (albeit smaller scale) thing as a potential solution to the Central Manchester rail bottleneck. But the thing to note is that this wouldn't be a cheap solution: all the good stuff which Gilligan lists as 'do instead' is likely to add up to far more than NPR. Less tunnelling, sure - but underground junctions, electrification, grade separated junctions, four-tracking and work on operational railways will be far more complex and expensive than a new alignment. That's why the 'use the Chat Moss' option kept getting filtered out when NPR has considered it in the past.
Gilligan clearly knows a bit. But it is amazing what he either doesn't know or pretends not to know.
Thanks for that. I'd just point out that whilst underground grade-separated junctions are more expensive than tunnels, they're not *that* much more expensive. What are expensive are platform is busy and bustling town or city centres. And more services require more platforms, however quickly you think passengers can get on and off, and drivers and crew can change ends.
There's another, more fundamental, problem here: HS2 suffered massively from the naysayers because of the 'high speed' aspect, when it is actually about capacity between four urban centres (now, sadly, just one-and-a-half). A significant issue with NPR is that there are far too many separate population centres that need serving, often too close together to allow high speed between them, and too geographically disparate to be served by the same line. This is why NPR is a much better moniker than HS3. But it should perhaps be made clear that journeys will be faster because of deconfliction of services rather than massively high speeds.
"But the thing to note is that this wouldn't be a cheap solution: all the good stuff which Gilligan lists as 'do instead' is likely to add up to far more than NPR."
A very common feature of idiots like Gilligan during lines on maps. I still recall with joy the "Reopen the GCR" muppets wrt HS2.
How many hundreds of billions added to the cost of HS2 would it take for you to admit that they weren't such muppets?
Fascinating twitter account that one. They are really on it with researching the background of things. They appear to have a lot of time on their hands.
They are just taking the piss with their we never get anything wrong...
It “did not consider the performance fell foul of the guidelines on material likely to encourage or incite crime”, a decision notice stated. This was because “in the context of a performance at a music festival, the chanting of slogans can be regarded as primarily an invitation to endorse a particular attitude”, it said.
This attitude, voiced in chants like “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea”, did not necessarily suggest “the disappearance of the state of Israel”. Instead, the BBC’s internal complaints service ruled, the chants could be considered “no more than expressions of support for aspirations to a Palestinian state and do not of themselves threaten violent action”.
The BBC accepted that chanting “Death to the IDF” was “clearly more problematic”, but decided that the slogan was “directed at an institution rather than individuals, and one which is not defined by ethnic or religious composition”.
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
Well one thing is for certain, whatever the amount quoted, double it, then double it again, multiply by a random number from 1-9, and then one final doubling of that, and it will be closer to the actual number it will cost in the end.
The current government seems to be taking the worst tendencies of New Labour without any of the good bits.
When I resolved to vote Labour last year, I reasoned that although there might be some minor lapses into their usual authoritarian tendencies, at least they would likely introduce some meaningful reform.
I’ve had no meaningful reform, and they’ve majored on the authoritarianism.
We can’t build infrastructure especially new high speed rail services and apparently now we’re unable to design an ID card system fit for purpose . Jeez it’s not rocket science ! Why is everything such a drama in the UK ? No disrespect to Estonia but if they can design a hugely popular system why can’t the Brits ?
We can’t build infrastructure especially new high speed rail services and apparently now we’re unable to design an ID card system fit for purpose . Jeez it’s not rocket science ! Why is everything such a drama in the UK ? No disrespect to Estonia but if they can design a hugely popular system why can’t the Brits ?
Estonia when they became a democracy started from basically day zero with huge push to have everything electronic (and very early to online). Voting, banking, taxes. Having had a company, even 10 years ago, it was incredibly easy for us to always be able to contact people online / via Skype to deal with issues without having to do it in person.
The problem with all reforms in the UK is we have 100+ years of conflicting systems and complex interactions. We can't, much that Big Dom wanted, just burn it all down today and start afresh. It is what a lot of Western Europe is struggling with compared to lots of Asian countries who jumped from dark ages straight to online / digital.
Do you know who you dont hear much from these days? Democrats.
I dunno, I think Obama is spot on here, though I wonder who he had in mind:
OBAMA: It's fair to say that 80% of the world's problems involve old men hanging on who are afraid of death and insignificance, and they won't let go. They build pyramids, and they put their names on everything. They get very anxious about it.
They are booked on an automated system where public transport or walking are not given as options - which can result in some unusually long or short journeys. The BBC previously asked the government how much it spent on taxi travel for asylum seekers, but the Home Office said it did not keep these figures.
Interesting Spain and Italy sending military help for the anti genocide flotilla into Gaza. The American from the flotilla is trully impressive as is the whole exercise.
"Starmer: Labour got it wrong on migration Writing for The Telegraph ahead of speech countering Reform UK, PM says party ‘did shy away’ from concerns" (£)
Do you know who you dont hear much from these days? Democrats.
I dunno, I think Obama is spot on here, though I wonder who he had in mind:
OBAMA: It's fair to say that 80% of the world's problems involve old men hanging on who are afraid of death and insignificance, and they won't let go. They build pyramids, and they put their names on everything. They get very anxious about it.
"Starmer: Labour got it wrong on migration Writing for The Telegraph ahead of speech countering Reform UK, PM says party ‘did shy away’ from concerns" (£)
James Comey indicted on federal obstruction , perjury charges .
Comedy gold from Bondi , apparently no one is above the law , except of course Trump .
You’d think Trump would show a little gratitude seeing as Comey handed him the 2016 election by re-opening the Clinton emails issue days before the election .
The US president has reacted to news of Comey's indictment on his Truth Social platform, calling the former FBI director "one of the worst human beings".
"JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI. "Today he was indicted by a Grand Jury on two felony counts for various illegal and unlawful acts. He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN"
I didn't realise Comey was a giant, just saw a picture of him surrounded by media and everybody else looked Rishi Sunak size, but apparently he is 6ft 8 or 6ft 9.
"Someone Is Kidnapping and Eating Britain’s Swans Majestic swans are disappearing from a historic British waterway, and detectives suspect that they are being stolen for food."
Oh, wait, it's BBC QT and guess who they have on tonight. Amazingly not Farage but Tice.
Maybe they think that equates to not having Farage on and so doesn't count as to the endless support for Reform.
Why would Reform not be on? They have a panel of politicians and like it or not, Reform got the third-most amount of votes at the last election and are topping the opinion polls.
20 years ago when I regularly watched QT the Lib Dems who were polling considerably less than Reform are polling were on every single week too.
They had Billy Bragg, Luke Evans, Lisa Nandy, Richard Tice and Munira Wilson. That includes one from each of the parties who polled above 10% at the GE.
I think the issue with Reform is that their stock of prominent politicians is very limited, so they get to make more personal appearances. That was also I think a (smaller) problem with respect to LibDems up until recently - but Lib Dems have a decent variety of peers from times past.
Looking up the numbers, there's a major political bias amongst the "non-politicians". This is the top list from 2014 to 2023. It may be that slebs would counterbalance this slightly, but there are none of those who make the list.
Name Appearances Isabel Oakeshott 13 Julia Hartley-Brewer 13 Kate Andrews 12 Tim Stanley 12 Camilla Tominey 10 Anne McElvoy 8 Theo Paphitis 8 Fraser Nelson 7 Melanie Phillips 7 Merryn Somerset Webb 7 Peter Hitchens 7 Piers Morgan 7 Zanny Minton Beddoes 7
There also seems to be a major pitical bias pro the Right as well
I do find some of the hysteria over ID cards rather strange given how much data the government already holds .
We happily have driving licences , passports etc . Once again No 10 comms have been useless .
You get out there , frame the debate before others do . Starmer should have had an evening news conference, laid out the plans and stressed it isn’t just about the boats .
If Labour wanted to introduce this, it should have said so in its manifesto. It’s a policy for which it should have obtained a democratic mandate, particularly because it has been proposed and scrapped before.
Do you guys want to “stop the boats” or what? I would prefer we didn’t have compulsory ID cards but ultimately we need to do something different and this is one thing to try
No it isn't.
Anyone hiring anyone illegally, cash in hand, already is breaking the existing laws.
Anyone hiring anyone legally, is already taking proof of right to work in the UK.
Stopping the boats by introducing ID cards is about as meaningful as wearing a balaclava to prevent pregnancy.
I mean that’s just factually incorrect - this would provide a validated, quick and cheap way to check
There are already ways to check. Its the law already.
Everything I said is dactually correct. Introducing a new way to check doesn’t do a damned thing to catch those who deliberately aren't checking and are paying cash in hand.
Those who are hiring legally are already checking.
Documents can be forged. This, in theory, would be much harder to fake
Any evidence that people crossing are getting hired via forged documentation, rather than via businesses that pay cash in hand and don't bother to check?
Digital ID can be forged too, people can share a burner phone or impersonate other people's IDs.
Nothing to do with the people crossing specifically but rather to make it a much more hostile environment to working illegally
So no evidence then?
Its already a hostile environment to working illegally. Anyone hiring anyone illegally can already be imprisoned.
Those who do so, are breaking existing laws.
Yeah, but they are not being imprisoned.
Because existing laws aren't being enforced and its easy to get away with it with cash in hand when it suits both parties interests to get away with it.
Not because of ID cards or the lack thereof.
We can do both
But how does it help?
We already have proof of right to work requirements. But cash in hand is very easy to do and very profitable given National Insurance and other taxes aren't payable when you employ someone cash in hand, nor does minimum wage or other laws apply.
Digital ID does nothing to address any of that. Nothing at all.
It literally does, it makes it easier to check somebody’s right to work
It literally does nothing to address any of what I wrote. Try reading what I wrote this time.
We already have proof of right to work requirements. But cash in hand is very easy to do and very profitable given National Insurance and other taxes aren't payable when you employ someone cash in hand, nor does minimum wage or other laws apply.
Making it easier to check somebody's right to work does nothing to address how profitable dodging all taxes and minimum wage laws by hiring illegal workers cash in hand is.
I’m reading what you’re saying, I am just ignoring most of it. You’re the one not reading what I am saying.
I know we have proof of right to work. This makes it easier. That is undeniable. “Do you have a Brit Card?” “No.” “That’s a shame.”
I didn’t say it would solve the other issue.
The other issue is the one you claimed it would solve though.
Do you guys want to “stop the boats” or what? I would prefer we didn’t have compulsory ID cards but ultimately we need to do something different and this is one thing to try
That's a shame.
Nobody is crossing because its hard to check for ID, as is already legally necessary.
Like I said, it’s about making the environment more hostile to illegal working. It’s a nuance you’ve never been capable of.
It's no more hostile, we already are fully hostile to it.
Anyone hiring anyone legally is already checking ID. Every legitimate employer does it.
Crooks don't. This will do nothing to stop people from being crooks.
I didn’t say that it would stop people from being crooks. You’re arguing with yourself.
That isn't always the issue. A good friend of mine an Italian who had a coffee bar restaurant was raided one Saturday night and out of about six staff one was found to have false papers. My friend was fined £15,000 and was forced to close shortly after. The employee was a Venezualan and he was only emplyed as a washer-upper on Saturday night. It was an outrage,
He had not knowingly done anything wrong. How was he supposed to know that the permit was false? I leant him half of it but there was no way out. There was no appeal and if he didn't pay it in a given amount of time it was increased to £25,000
Interesting story. That does seem quite harsh on your friend if there isnt some easy way to check whether a permit is legitimate.
Employers who want to check. Those that don’t, don’t.
For British employees (or would-be employees) the government's checking site only works for passport holders. Failing that, firms are invited to check a worker's, erm, passport.
It would be a fair criticism of me that I get a lot of my opinions from The Spectator, because it's really the one bit of the media I read the most. And I think the first thing I read about a topic, if it reads convincingly, usually becomes my opinion till something else comes along.
So I am now officially against Northern Powerhouse Rail. I was all for it, till I read this fairly damning account of it, which is basically that it's not going to do anything for the North, because it's basically more of the HS2 project, just gussied up by Obsborne to look like his own genius levelling up scheme.
Osborne did that a lot. The OBR for example was meant to be a great way to ensure Tory style fiscal rectitude, but it wasn't - it was actually a quango designed to ready us for monetary union. Northern Powerhouse Rail sounds brilliant, but it turns out:
Called Northern Powerhouse Rail, this section alone will cost a claimed £17 billion (in reality, perhaps £30 billion). It will be a high-speed railway on which trains can never reach high speeds, because the stations are too close together. It will leave Manchester via a vastly expensive new eight-mile tunnel in the wrong direction – roughly south, only then turning west towards Liverpool, hence the longer journey time. The official reason for doing it like this is to serve Manchester Airport. But the ‘airport’ station would be almost a mile away from the airport. You’d have to transfer by bus.
So until another, better take comes along, I'm adopting Gilligan's view that NPR is shite and we should do a Queen Elizabeth line for Northern England instead. We're out of the EU now, we can do what the populace actually needs, not continue with their ludicrous grand projets and have to pretend they're working for people.
Unusually, this is a subject I'm actually reasonably well-informed on (and I've read the Gilligan report). I think the below is a fair view - obviously I want the best outcome for GM and the North, so it is biased by that, but not, I hope, by anything else.
1) The Gilligan reiterates the old chestnut about journey times. NPR isn't primarily about journey times: it's about frequency and reliability. And a holistic network. Yes, you can get in 31 minutes from Lime Street to Victoria - but not desperately reliably, and at the expense of suburban services on the line. 2) The report says there are already two lines from Liverpool to Manchester (three if you include Headbolt Lane - which you can, but seems a stretch, because you'd need to reinstate a short bit of track for that to count). But that's normal between adjacent big cities - I think there are five routes between Glasgow and Edinburgh. 3) Prioritise local services, says Gilligan. But then suggests filling up the existing network with city to city links, which can only be done at the expense of local services. 4) But actually, better local services are what we all want. And that's the point of new high speed alignments: we provide new capacity, run the high speed services on that, and you can therefore run far more local services on the old network. A moment's thought will demonstrate this: with a mix of fast and slow trains, you need to leave a massive gap after the slow train leaves before you set the fast train off. If all your trains are of the same speed, you can run 15tph along a route, assuming sufficient capacity at stations. If it's a mix of fast and slow, it might be half that or less. NPR allows much better suburban services to run. This is the outcome Gilligan claims to want. ...(cont)...
4) Dig a shorter east-west tunnel, with branches off, says Gilligan. But actually tunnelling itself is not THAT expensive. What is expensive is undgerground grade separated junctions. And Gilligan appears to be proposing at least five. 5) You CAN'T get 30tph on a two-track underground railway. You just can't. The Castlefield corridor is creaking at 13-14. Thameslink gets no more than 18. 6) Yes, the Airport station is a short distance from the Airport - this is normal, Airports are large - but you don't need a bus link, there are already powers for extending the tram. (cf the Piccadilly line at Heathrow). This is a better outcome for those travelling from further afield eg Liverpool, Leeds, N. Wales than changing at Piccadilly. 6) All that said, actually, the SE-W tunnel Gilligan proposes, along with the regular radial routes out of Manchester, would be welcome. Indeed, rumour has it Network Rail are considering a similar (albeit smaller scale) thing as a potential solution to the Central Manchester rail bottleneck. But the thing to note is that this wouldn't be a cheap solution: all the good stuff which Gilligan lists as 'do instead' is likely to add up to far more than NPR. Less tunnelling, sure - but underground junctions, electrification, grade separated junctions, four-tracking and work on operational railways will be far more complex and expensive than a new alignment. That's why the 'use the Chat Moss' option kept getting filtered out when NPR has considered it in the past.
Gilligan clearly knows a bit. But it is amazing what he either doesn't know or pretends not to know.
Thanks for that. I'd just point out that whilst underground grade-separated junctions are more expensive than tunnels, they're not *that* much more expensive. What are expensive are platform is busy and bustling town or city centres. And more services require more platforms, however quickly you think passengers can get on and off, and drivers and crew can change ends.
There's another, more fundamental, problem here: HS2 suffered massively from the naysayers because of the 'high speed' aspect, when it is actually about capacity between four urban centres (now, sadly, just one-and-a-half). A significant issue with NPR is that there are far too many separate population centres that need serving, often too close together to allow high speed between them, and too geographically disparate to be served by the same line. This is why NPR is a much better moniker than HS3. But it should perhaps be made clear that journeys will be faster because of deconfliction of services rather than massively high speeds.
"But the thing to note is that this wouldn't be a cheap solution: all the good stuff which Gilligan lists as 'do instead' is likely to add up to far more than NPR."
A very common feature of idiots like Gilligan during lines on maps. I still recall with joy the "Reopen the GCR" muppets wrt HS2.
How many hundreds of billions added to the cost of HS2 would it take for you to admit that they weren't such muppets?
Not liking HS2 does not make people calling out "reopen the GCR" in any way sensible.
So let's go through a non-exhaustive list. *) It goes to the wrong places, which is part of the reason it closed in the 1960s. *) It was never a fast route by modern standards. *) Much has bene built on, especially in Nottingham and Leicester. *) The southern third of the route, from Aylesbury to Marylebone, is open and essentially and at capacity, so you would need to build an alternative for that. In fact, two new platforms were opened at Marylebone 20 years ago to increase capacity for existing services. +more.
So essentially it would be a brand new line, and would have significantly more issues than HS2's route.
Not liking HS2 is fair enough. But reopening the GCR as an alternative is ludicrous.
Survation Holyrood Constituency vote SNP 37 Labour 20 Reform 18 Con 11 LD 7 Green 5 Alba 1
List vote SNP 31 Lab 18 Reform 15 Con 13 LD 11 Green 8 Alba 2
SNP almost knocking on an outright majority. Impossible as it is for much of PB to comprehend they’ve had a good few weeks if you ignore BBC Scotland headlines. Will Your Party get their act together before next May? I think not but if they did and came out with an indy curious offer they might do okay, ie a seat or two. Lot of ifs there of course.
Are they not about to get a second hand kicking re trans when Sandie Peggie wins bigly in her claim against Fife NHS (and indirectly the Scottish Governments ludicrous Trans policies)?
No idea, I leave that stuff to the toilet monitors.
I wonder if @turbotubbs is expecting to be one of the "Are you female?" toilet inspectors?
I'm not expecting any toilet inspectors. I am hoping that women will be allowed single sex spaces away from ALL men, including those who believe that they are women, and those who fantasize that they are women. Including those with all male genitalia, currently trying to impregnate their girlfriend and expecting women to change alongside them (see Durham).
If you don't believe in the right of women to have single sex spaces then you don't believe in women's rights.
Really? There are a lot of pro-trans feminists who you think don't believe in women's rights, then.
Let me ask a question: why should someone who has been through full gender transition for decades, and has been using women's facilities for those decades, now have to use male, or disabled if available, facilities? What has changed?
The law has been clarified. Men CANNOT become women by surgery, by fairy dust, by will power.
I have every sympathy for transwomen. And they have the same rights as everyone else, but just as they cannot become a horse they cannot become a woman.
You don't show much sympathy.
In what way? I would treat (and have done) a trans person the same as any other. I simply do not believe that you can change sex/gender or whatever you want to call it. The debate is ridiculous.
I note that the UN has deemed that trans is not a mental illness (no doubt after significant pressure from pro trans lobbying). Yet body dysmorphia is still a mental illness.
I do not seek to tell anyone who to live their lives, who they can have sex with, how they can dress. I merely wish the law respected and that women's single sex spaces remain for women, not for anyone who the law regards as a man.
A you know what - this is a dangerous thing to say. People have been hounded out of work because of this belief.
And trans people have been hounded to suicide and worse through bullying. And even murdered. I have witnessed the bullying this myself with trans friends and colleagues.
As ever you ignore the serious criminal offences committed against women and children by people claiming to be trans - 3 founders of Pride convicted or under investigation for child sexual abuse, a girl kidnapped and repeatedly raped by a transgender man who had been trans for ages and ages, a 12 year old girl sexually assaulted by a 6 ft 2 man pretending to be a woman, the voyeurism and indecent exposure by "Rose", the Darlington nurse and so on. One child claiming to be trans has been murdered in the U.K. A dreadful case. But the far greater number of sexual assaults by men claiming to be trans against women and girls - look up the latest MoJ figures - never ever bother you, a so-called male feminist ally.
Survation Holyrood Constituency vote SNP 37 Labour 20 Reform 18 Con 11 LD 7 Green 5 Alba 1
List vote SNP 31 Lab 18 Reform 15 Con 13 LD 11 Green 8 Alba 2
SNP almost knocking on an outright majority. Impossible as it is for much of PB to comprehend they’ve had a good few weeks if you ignore BBC Scotland headlines. Will Your Party get their act together before next May? I think not but if they did and came out with an indy curious offer they might do okay, ie a seat or two. Lot of ifs there of course.
Are they not about to get a second hand kicking re trans when Sandie Peggie wins bigly in her claim against Fife NHS (and indirectly the Scottish Governments ludicrous Trans policies)?
No idea, I leave that stuff to the toilet monitors.
I wonder if @turbotubbs is expecting to be one of the "Are you female?" toilet inspectors?
I'm not expecting any toilet inspectors. I am hoping that women will be allowed single sex spaces away from ALL men, including those who believe that they are women, and those who fantasize that they are women. Including those with all male genitalia, currently trying to impregnate their girlfriend and expecting women to change alongside them (see Durham).
If you don't believe in the right of women to have single sex spaces then you don't believe in women's rights.
Really? There are a lot of pro-trans feminists who you think don't believe in women's rights, then.
Let me ask a question: why should someone who has been through full gender transition for decades, and has been using women's facilities for those decades, now have to use male, or disabled if available, facilities? What has changed?
The law has been clarified. Men CANNOT become women by surgery, by fairy dust, by will power.
I have every sympathy for transwomen. And they have the same rights as everyone else, but just as they cannot become a horse they cannot become a woman.
Hang on a sec, that's not what the court said. They said that, for the purposes of the Equality Act, a person could not change their sex. But the Equality Act also states that a person should not be discriminated against on the basis of their transgender identity.
So it's not as simple as saying that, "trans women are men," just as it was never as simple as saying that, "trans women are women."
The Equality Act does not say that. Gender identity is not a protected characteristic. It is gender reassignment which is a defined term.
There's a lot to be said about that, although it would help if you blockquoted individual topics rather than bundling them up. Oh, and I wouldn't mind PMing you, so it'd be good if you could not have a private profile.
But here's one point I'd like to strongly make:
"One child claiming to be trans" Brianna Ghey was trans. She did not 'claim' to be trans. She was.
There's much more, but I've got stuff to do before bed.
He was a child. He had gender dysphoria. He believed that he ought to be a girl. What the Cass Report and the evidence from the GIDS clinic at the Tavistock clinic shows that some children with this condition grow out of it, for some it is caused by other factors and so on. It is a condition but is not necessarily a final diagnosis which is why it is important to understand exactly what lies behind it rather than assuming that what a child says is the final definitive word.
Very sadly this did not happen here because of the awful murder. There was in this child's case, having seen some of the evidence and the very curious response by the Head Teacher at the school (since deleted) a real safeguarding issue both for this child and the two killers and that this was not handled at all as it should have been. If it had, perhaps the poor child would still be alive.
I see you cannot bring yourself to call the murdered women by her name, and you continually refer to them as a boy, not a girl.
How have you seen some of the evidence about safeguarding, including now-deleted stuff?
Primary school children using ketamine during lunch breaks with teenagers facing life in nappies ... An LBC investigation has found primary school children are using Ketamine on their lunch breaks, knowing the effects will have worn off by the time they go back to class. https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/children-taking-ketamine-uk-primary-school-5HjdDXH_2/
Been at the hospital most of the day as sadly my wife has had a stillbirth. So not been the best of days for us
I am so, so, so sorry for your loss. And though I only know you through this forum, I very much send your wife all my love; from the bottom of my heart - truly and sincerely.
Is this the first poll since the election that has the Lib Dems ahead of the Tories? Three observations;
1.The tone of the Lib Dem Conference hit the right tone. In this time of some grotesque political Parties I thought they got it spot on . 2. Rather than Starmer being worried about the knife in the back shouldn't it be Kemi?
3. It's Findoutnow which is so far away from the crowd that it's difficult to take it too seriously
FindOutNow was the first pollster to put Reform above 25% and they turned out to be right because all the other pollsters followed a while later.
Eh? It’s a weather reading, not a forecast. They weren’t “right” if the increase in support didn’t actually happen until later.
Primary school children using ketamine during lunch breaks with teenagers facing life in nappies ... An LBC investigation has found primary school children are using Ketamine on their lunch breaks, knowing the effects will have worn off by the time they go back to class. https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/children-taking-ketamine-uk-primary-school-5HjdDXH_2/
One to read. Longish quote:
Rob Durrans runs a support group in Liverpool specifically for people affected by ketamine abuse, he said: “It is in schools, nine and ten-year-olds. When you have a bump of Ket it takes about 40 minutes to wear off, so when dinner time comes up they’re having a bump in school and they know by the time they go back into class it’s worn off. How scary is that, thinking it’s normal, it’s part of your lunch.”
The physical impact of sustained ketamine abuse is something Rob is seeing on a frequent basis at his drop-in sessions.
“The ages are getting younger and younger”, he told LBC.
“People are coming in with nappies on, sobbing and crying and don’t want to live. These kids are really young, crying in pain, and their parents are like ‘What do we do?’.
For many young people, the physical damage is being misinterpreted as urinary tract infections or ‘growing pains’.
Rob said: “You get “Ket cramps”, you start urinating out jelly and blood, that’s the wall of the bladder and it can’t be repaired. So, eventually that goes, they have to have it taken away, then it attacks the kidneys and the liver, and then they die.”
He added: “To see it first hand is devastating. You’ve got kids isolating because they are ashamed. They can’t sit on wooden chairs because they need couches, they need to go to the toilet every five minutes because their bladder can’t hold enough water – they’ve got nappies on and they feel embarrassed.” https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/children-taking-ketamine-uk-primary-school-5HjdDXH_2/
Been at the hospital most of the day as sadly my wife has had a stillbirth. So not been the best of days for us
Christ. I'm sorry. I wish you both strength.
Thanks and for all your kind comments below. Won't be commentating tomorrow and over the weekend as I will obviously be supporting my wife but hope to drop in a bit next week
HYUFD, I am so sorry to hear this awful news, my thoughts are with you and your wife at this sad time. As someone who suffered a miscarriage in my first pregnancy, just shut the world out and just be together supporting each other as you navigate this awful loss.
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
The cost savings are immense. Public administration in Estonia costs a tiny fraction of the UK because of the benefits of having secured communication channels and safe data. The experience of every country that uses such systems suggests that digital ID pays for itself remarkably quickly.
In amongst all the noise and sorrow, the medics will already be explaining what happened and why and, after a time, that information will inform what you do next and what the future risks are, moreso than for any other loss. Whichever of you is capable, listen to that, ask questions, and be gentle when you talk together and start planning for what is next, because you will be fearful. Talk to people as you need - SANDs were very helpful for a relative who lost a child at full term.
Oh, wait, it's BBC QT and guess who they have on tonight. Amazingly not Farage but Tice.
Maybe they think that equates to not having Farage on and so doesn't count as to the endless support for Reform.
Why would Reform not be on? They have a panel of politicians and like it or not, Reform got the third-most amount of votes at the last election and are topping the opinion polls.
20 years ago when I regularly watched QT the Lib Dems who were polling considerably less than Reform are polling were on every single week too.
They had Billy Bragg, Luke Evans, Lisa Nandy, Richard Tice and Munira Wilson. That includes one from each of the parties who polled above 10% at the GE.
I think the issue with Reform is that their stock of prominent politicians is very limited, so they get to make more personal appearances. That was also I think a (smaller) problem with respect to LibDems up until recently - but Lib Dems have a decent variety of peers from times past.
Looking up the numbers, there's a major political bias amongst the "non-politicians". This is the top list from 2014 to 2023. It may be that slebs would counterbalance this slightly, but there are none of those who make the list.
Name Appearances Isabel Oakeshott 13 Julia Hartley-Brewer 13 Kate Andrews 12 Tim Stanley 12 Camilla Tominey 10 Anne McElvoy 8 Theo Paphitis 8 Fraser Nelson 7 Melanie Phillips 7 Merryn Somerset Webb 7 Peter Hitchens 7 Piers Morgan 7 Zanny Minton Beddoes 7
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
The cost savings are immense. Public administration in Estonia costs a tiny fraction of the UK because of the benefits of having secured communication channels and safe data. The experience of every country that uses such systems suggests that digital ID pays for itself remarkably quickly.
I have no confidence whatsoever this will be implemented competently.
Just look how brilliantly the OSA was drafted. Wikipedia may stop working here, Xbox accounts need verifying for social aspects, and a YouGov tweet was censored under the terms of the OSA.
We can’t build infrastructure especially new high speed rail services and apparently now we’re unable to design an ID card system fit for purpose . Jeez it’s not rocket science ! Why is everything such a drama in the UK ? No disrespect to Estonia but if they can design a hugely popular system why can’t the Brits ?
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
The cost savings are immense. Public administration in Estonia costs a tiny fraction of the UK because of the benefits of having secured communication channels and safe data. The experience of every country that uses such systems suggests that digital ID pays for itself remarkably quickly.
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
The cost savings are immense. Public administration in Estonia costs a tiny fraction of the UK because of the benefits of having secured communication channels and safe data. The experience of every country that uses such systems suggests that digital ID pays for itself remarkably quickly.
IF well implemented.
The other reason that public administration in Estonia is cheaper is that it doesn’t have several hundred years of “unique requirements” built in.
Starting from zero meant they do crazy stuff like having a driving license unit that concentrates nearly 100% on organising driving licenses.
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
The cost savings are immense. Public administration in Estonia costs a tiny fraction of the UK because of the benefits of having secured communication channels and safe data. The experience of every country that uses such systems suggests that digital ID pays for itself remarkably quickly.
IF well implemented.
And it is possible that it will be well implemented. Though precedence does not bode well.
One of my fears is that it becomes overwhelmed by feature creep. Instead of having a relatively minimalist system, consultants and experts persuade the government that it needs to be a massive system interlinked with everything else. This may end up advantaging the consultants and no-one else...
As one example, remember the massively expensive failure that was the mid-2000s NHS IT project. "Originally expected to cost £2.3 billion (bn) over three years, in June 2006 the total cost was estimated by the National Audit Office to be £12.4bn over 10 years" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_Connecting_for_Health
Whatever's done needs to be as small a system as possible.
We can’t build infrastructure especially new high speed rail services and apparently now we’re unable to design an ID card system fit for purpose . Jeez it’s not rocket science ! Why is everything such a drama in the UK ? No disrespect to Estonia but if they can design a hugely popular system why can’t the Brits ?
Can't we just use theirs ?
Far too simple to just choose another country's implementation and duplicate it.
We can’t build infrastructure especially new high speed rail services and apparently now we’re unable to design an ID card system fit for purpose . Jeez it’s not rocket science ! Why is everything such a drama in the UK ? No disrespect to Estonia but if they can design a hugely popular system why can’t the Brits ?
Can't we just use theirs ?
Far too simple to just choose another country's implementation and duplicate it.
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
The cost savings are immense. Public administration in Estonia costs a tiny fraction of the UK because of the benefits of having secured communication channels and safe data. The experience of every country that uses such systems suggests that digital ID pays for itself remarkably quickly.
IF well implemented.
And it is possible that it will be well implemented. Though precedence does not bode well.
One of my fears is that it becomes overwhelmed by feature creep. Instead of having a relatively minimalist system, consultants and experts persuade the government that it needs to be a massive system interlinked with everything else. This may end up advantaging the consultants and no-one else...
As one example, remember the massively expensive failure that was the mid-2000s NHS IT project. "Originally expected to cost £2.3 billion (bn) over three years, in June 2006 the total cost was estimated by the National Audit Office to be £12.4bn over 10 years" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_Connecting_for_Health
Whatever's done needs to be as small a system as possible.
It won't be. It'll be as overblown as possible, a grand project. Inefficient, open to abuse, less useful for individuals.
And maybe, just maybe, I don't want this shitbag government or any other asking me for my papers online.
"Residents in a town that was at the centre of a safety row over its hanging baskets have been left puzzled after flags appeared on the same lamp-posts."
Italy has electronic ID cards, and there’s no-one working illegally anywhere in Italy, and no-one pitching up from the Med in a small boat, no sirree….
Italy has electronic ID cards, and there’s no-one working illegally anywhere in Italy, and no-one pitching up from the Med in a small boat, no sirree….
It is pretty special.
People are crossing the channel in small boats. They're coming here in person, to work in person.
So, obviously, an online ID card will stop that.
I'm very worried these incompetents will try outlawing VPNs next (I use one regularly for work purposes).
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
Well one thing is for certain, whatever the amount quoted, double it, then double it again, multiply by a random number from 1-9, and then one final doubling of that, and it will be closer to the actual number it will cost in the end.
Britain could do a lot worse than to buy a system already developed elsewhere, and make relatively minor adjustments to fit local requirements.
If this goes ahead I expect it to be a huge bonanza for various IT consultancy firms as the British state decides they have to design something from first principles instead.
We can’t build infrastructure especially new high speed rail services and apparently now we’re unable to design an ID card system fit for purpose . Jeez it’s not rocket science ! Why is everything such a drama in the UK ? No disrespect to Estonia but if they can design a hugely popular system why can’t the Brits ?
Can't we just use theirs ?
Far too simple to just choose another country's implementation and duplicate it.
As Yes Prime Minister pointed out, "not invented here" is a big driver in political decisions.
The Estonian scheme would need scaling up, of course.
The last week has seen The Times totally jump the shark. Wall-to-wall pro-Reform coverage, with increasingly ridiculous and hysterical reporting over multiple bylines. The editorializing of news coverage is something we have got used to under the Murdoch yoke, but honestly its an insult to the intelligence.
Day after day of uncritical broadcasting on behalf of Farage et al is not just stupid, it is boring.
I also note that the coverage of the Lib Dem conference going on at the same time was literally zero.
It is sad to see the Thunderer turned into a witless Murdoch propaganda sheet, and even though I have generally read the paper to appreciate the views of political opponents, the rag is becoming unreadable.
In other news, the Lib Dems had a successful conference and are rising in the polls, looking like they are overtaking the Tories and closing on Labour.
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
The cost savings are immense. Public administration in Estonia costs a tiny fraction of the UK because of the benefits of having secured communication channels and safe data. The experience of every country that uses such systems suggests that digital ID pays for itself remarkably quickly.
IF well implemented.
And it is possible that it will be well implemented. Though precedence does not bode well.
One of my fears is that it becomes overwhelmed by feature creep. Instead of having a relatively minimalist system, consultants and experts persuade the government that it needs to be a massive system interlinked with everything else. This may end up advantaging the consultants and no-one else...
As one example, remember the massively expensive failure that was the mid-2000s NHS IT project. "Originally expected to cost £2.3 billion (bn) over three years, in June 2006 the total cost was estimated by the National Audit Office to be £12.4bn over 10 years" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_Connecting_for_Health
Whatever's done needs to be as small a system as possible.
It won't be. It'll be as overblown as possible, a grand project. Inefficient, open to abuse, less useful for individuals.
And maybe, just maybe, I don't want this shitbag government or any other asking me for my papers online.
Italy has electronic ID cards, and there’s no-one working illegally anywhere in Italy, and no-one pitching up from the Med in a small boat, no sirree….
Sundays in Italy are interesting. You can cycle from village to town to village and see the changes. Especially in agricultural areas which rely on a lot of harvesting by hand. If only the immigration staff worked on Sundays.
Italy has electronic ID cards, and there’s no-one working illegally anywhere in Italy, and no-one pitching up from the Med in a small boat, no sirree….
It is pretty special.
People are crossing the channel in small boats. They're coming here in person, to work in person.
So, obviously, an online ID card will stop that.
I'm very worried these incompetents will try outlawing VPNs next (I use one regularly for work purposes).
No no. That won’t happen. What will happen is that
1) they pass a law to ban VPNs 2) they get told that this will cause the end of IT in the U.K. 3) the Registrar Of VPNs is setup - only VPNs that are registered are allowed. 4) after 14 years and 26Bn the Registry goes live 5) it promptly collapses in a cyber attack carried out by a 17 year old from Basingstoke. 6) it turns out not to work 7) meanwhile the functionality built in to every “authorised” VPN, so that it can report all sites accessed to the government, has turned out to collapse performance and create a series of fundamental security risks. 8) Questions about the program are asked. Why is the CEO of the registry on £1.8 per annum? Why does the office building leak so badly that the ground floor is actually a fish tank? Why are VPNs used by the Mafia, Triads registered, and never report data the way they should?
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
Well one thing is for certain, whatever the amount quoted, double it, then double it again, multiply by a random number from 1-9, and then one final doubling of that, and it will be closer to the actual number it will cost in the end.
Britain could do a lot worse than to buy a system already developed elsewhere, and make relatively minor adjustments to fit local requirements.
If this goes ahead I expect it to be a huge bonanza for various IT consultancy firms as the British state decides they have to design something from first principles instead.
I have quite the firm view that British contractors/government should never have a role in anything new, and we should always buy off the shelf from abroad.
So, the public realm and cycle lanes = the Dutch/Danes, HS2/trams/nuclear = the French, housing = the Germans, ID cards = the Estonians. Then implement a long term skills plan over 10 years that sees young British kids learn from them and take on these roles in the future.
We can’t build infrastructure especially new high speed rail services and apparently now we’re unable to design an ID card system fit for purpose . Jeez it’s not rocket science ! Why is everything such a drama in the UK ? No disrespect to Estonia but if they can design a hugely popular system why can’t the Brits ?
Can't we just use theirs ?
Far too simple to just choose another country's implementation and duplicate it.
Actually the UK government DOES use Estonian systems architecture in some government departments and has been doing so since 2013. Generally regarded as highly successful, especially with regard to cybersecurity.
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
The cost savings are immense. Public administration in Estonia costs a tiny fraction of the UK because of the benefits of having secured communication channels and safe data. The experience of every country that uses such systems suggests that digital ID pays for itself remarkably quickly.
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
Well one thing is for certain, whatever the amount quoted, double it, then double it again, multiply by a random number from 1-9, and then one final doubling of that, and it will be closer to the actual number it will cost in the end.
Britain could do a lot worse than to buy a system already developed elsewhere, and make relatively minor adjustments to fit local requirements.
If this goes ahead I expect it to be a huge bonanza for various IT consultancy firms as the British state decides they have to design something from first principles instead.
I have quite the firm view that British contractors/government should never have a role in anything new, and we should always buy off the shelf from abroad.
So, the public realm and cycle lanes = the Dutch/Danes, HS2/trams/nuclear = the French, housing = the Germans, ID cards = the Estonians. Then implement a long term skills plan over 10 years that sees young British kids learn from them and take on these roles in the future.
To be fair, it looks like someone involved in the British State did create fraud-detection software that is worth selling to other countries, but it's notable that other countries have decided to buy that from us, rather than say, "that looks like a good idea, let's design our own with all this additional complexity from the ground up."
So, sometimes, it might be reasonable to create something new - and the Bank of England work on a digital pound is one to watch for where that could also be a British success - but most of the time it won't.
How much money is this ID scheme going to cost? Because maybe the money could be spent on defending the borders instead. Just a tiny thought.
Well one thing is for certain, whatever the amount quoted, double it, then double it again, multiply by a random number from 1-9, and then one final doubling of that, and it will be closer to the actual number it will cost in the end.
Britain could do a lot worse than to buy a system already developed elsewhere, and make relatively minor adjustments to fit local requirements.
If this goes ahead I expect it to be a huge bonanza for various IT consultancy firms as the British state decides they have to design something from first principles instead.
I have quite the firm view that British contractors/government should never have a role in anything new, and we should always buy off the shelf from abroad.
So, the public realm and cycle lanes = the Dutch/Danes, HS2/trams/nuclear = the French, housing = the Germans, ID cards = the Estonians. Then implement a long term skills plan over 10 years that sees young British kids learn from them and take on these roles in the future.
To be fair, it looks like someone involved in the British State did create fraud-detection software that is worth selling to other countries, but it's notable that other countries have decided to buy that from us, rather than say, "that looks like a good idea, let's design our own with all this additional complexity from the ground up."
So, sometimes, it might be reasonable to create something new - and the Bank of England work on a digital pound is one to watch for where that could also be a British success - but most of the time it won't.
Good point. I guess I should qualify that if no else is doing it well, then we should try to do it ourselves. Otherwise, buy off the shelf.
@HYUFD Just seen your post. You've both had a stillbirth. Look after your wife, but look after yourself too.
I've experienced several miscarriages, which are not the same and not as bad, but have some similarities. My older brother was stillborn and my best friend's first child was stillborn too. If you're reading this, take the time to make some memories, if it feels right. The hospital will have ideas and advice along with the various charities. But mostly just look after your wife and yourself and be kind to yourself. There will be better times ahead.
Meanwhile, I can report from within the Labour Party that Burnham's naked ambition is going down like a lead balloon. Even his fans, who are significant but fewer in number than he thinks, are critical of his timing. There's a pretty unanimous view that, having been in power only just over a year, Starmer and his team should be given longer. If there is to be a challenge, by Burnham or anybody else, most agree that the earliest this should happen is after the May 2026 elections.
It doesn't seem unreasonable to me, or other members, that Starmer should be allowed two years to demonstrate that he needs to be replaced, or not, as the case may be,
Isn't Burnham just setting himself out as a sage? His words may be unwelcome now, but Starmer's unpopularity and the shiteness of his Government will grow - that's about the only growth he is likely to achieve. That means in a year or so Burnham can look forward to Labour opinion catching up with him, and everyone saying 'Why didn’t we listen to Andy?'.
Comments
Do you know who you dont hear much from these days? Democrats.
High-speed rail is transport for the establishment, for businesspeople and politicians travelling between the big cities
Trains on the Elizabeth line would serve about 80 stations across the north-west, Yorkshire and Humberside.
I think the issue with Reform is that their stock of prominent politicians is very limited, so they get to make more personal appearances. That was also I think a (smaller) problem with respect to LibDems up until recently - but Lib Dems have a decent variety of peers from times past.
Looking up the numbers, there's a major political bias amongst the "non-politicians". This is the top list from 2014 to 2023. It may be that slebs would counterbalance this slightly, but there are none of those who make the list.
Name Appearances
Isabel Oakeshott 13
Julia Hartley-Brewer 13
Kate Andrews 12
Tim Stanley 12
Camilla Tominey 10
Anne McElvoy 8
Theo Paphitis 8
Fraser Nelson 7
Melanie Phillips 7
Merryn Somerset Webb 7
Peter Hitchens 7
Piers Morgan 7
Zanny Minton Beddoes 7
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/09/25/sir-keir-starmer-labour-got-it-wrong-on-migration/
It “did not consider the performance fell foul of the guidelines on material likely to encourage or incite crime”, a decision notice stated. This was because “in the context of a performance at a music festival, the chanting of slogans can be regarded as primarily an invitation to endorse a particular attitude”, it said.
This attitude, voiced in chants like “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea”, did not necessarily suggest “the disappearance of the state of Israel”. Instead, the BBC’s internal complaints service ruled, the chants could be considered “no more than expressions of support for aspirations to a Palestinian state and do not of themselves threaten violent action”.
The BBC accepted that chanting “Death to the IDF” was “clearly more problematic”, but decided that the slogan was “directed at an institution rather than individuals, and one which is not defined by ethnic or religious composition”.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09/25/bbc-bob-vylan-death-to-idf-chant-not-incitement/
I’ve had no meaningful reform, and they’ve majored on the authoritarianism.
Buyers remorse doesn’t even begin to describe it.
The problem with all reforms in the UK is we have 100+ years of conflicting systems and complex interactions. We can't, much that Big Dom wanted, just burn it all down today and start afresh. It is what a lot of Western Europe is struggling with compared to lots of Asian countries who jumped from dark ages straight to online / digital.
OBAMA: It's fair to say that 80% of the world's problems involve old men hanging on who are afraid of death and insignificance, and they won't let go. They build pyramids, and they put their names on everything. They get very anxious about it.
https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3lzojvs2ojc2m
https://x.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1971347705332138374?t=Be-UggkmRvF2cFof8n5K1g&s=19
They are booked on an automated system where public transport or walking are not given as options - which can result in some unusually long or short journeys. The BBC previously asked the government how much it spent on taxi travel for asylum seekers, but the Home Office said it did not keep these figures.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0vpxqyz45o
We have an automated system but we don't record the its usage, costs, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY8_Pb6PIyE
"Starmer: Labour got it wrong on migration
Writing for The Telegraph ahead of speech countering Reform UK, PM says party ‘did shy away’ from concerns" (£)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/09/25/sir-keir-starmer-labour-got-it-wrong-on-migration/
Comedy gold from Bondi , apparently no one is above the law , except of course Trump .
You’d think Trump would show a little gratitude seeing as Comey handed him the 2016 election by re-opening the Clinton emails issue days before the election .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQScq7uFMQ8
"Washington backing plan for Tony Blair to head transitional Gaza authority"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/25/washington-backing-plan-for-tony-blair-to-head-transitional-gaza-authority
Green 826 (43.8%) -5.7%
Ref UK 556 (29.5%) new
Lab 386 (20.5%) -23.2%
Con 72 (3.8%) -1.6%
LD 47 (2.5%) +1.2%
"JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI. "Today he was indicted by a Grand Jury on two felony counts for various illegal and unlawful acts. He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN"
I think he is missing the word allegedly....
"Someone Is Kidnapping and Eating Britain’s Swans
Majestic swans are disappearing from a historic British waterway, and detectives suspect that they are being stolen for food."
https://newsfeed.time.com/2013/01/18/someone-is-kidnapping-and-eating-britains-swans/
So let's go through a non-exhaustive list.
*) It goes to the wrong places, which is part of the reason it closed in the 1960s.
*) It was never a fast route by modern standards.
*) Much has bene built on, especially in Nottingham and Leicester.
*) The southern third of the route, from Aylesbury to Marylebone, is open and essentially and at capacity, so you would need to build an alternative for that. In fact, two new platforms were opened at Marylebone 20 years ago to increase capacity for existing services.
+more.
So essentially it would be a brand new line, and would have significantly more issues than HS2's route.
Not liking HS2 is fair enough. But reopening the GCR as an alternative is ludicrous.
How have you seen some of the evidence about safeguarding, including now-deleted stuff?
...
An LBC investigation has found primary school children are using Ketamine on their lunch breaks, knowing the effects will have worn off by the time they go back to class.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/children-taking-ketamine-uk-primary-school-5HjdDXH_2/
Rob Durrans runs a support group in Liverpool specifically for people affected by ketamine abuse, he said: “It is in schools, nine and ten-year-olds. When you have a bump of Ket it takes about 40 minutes to wear off, so when dinner time comes up they’re having a bump in school and they know by the time they go back into class it’s worn off. How scary is that, thinking it’s normal, it’s part of your lunch.”
The physical impact of sustained ketamine abuse is something Rob is seeing on a frequent basis at his drop-in sessions.
“The ages are getting younger and younger”, he told LBC.
“People are coming in with nappies on, sobbing and crying and don’t want to live. These kids are really young, crying in pain, and their parents are like ‘What do we do?’.
For many young people, the physical damage is being misinterpreted as urinary tract infections or ‘growing pains’.
Rob said: “You get “Ket cramps”, you start urinating out jelly and blood, that’s the wall of the bladder and it can’t be repaired. So, eventually that goes, they have to have it taken away, then it attacks the kidneys and the liver, and then they die.”
He added: “To see it first hand is devastating. You’ve got kids isolating because they are ashamed. They can’t sit on wooden chairs because they need couches, they need to go to the toilet every five minutes because their bladder can’t hold enough water – they’ve got nappies on and they feel embarrassed.”
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/children-taking-ketamine-uk-primary-school-5HjdDXH_2/
In amongst all the noise and sorrow, the medics will already be explaining what happened and why and, after a time, that information will inform what you do next and what the future risks are, moreso than for any other loss. Whichever of you is capable, listen to that, ask questions, and be gentle when you talk together and start planning for what is next, because you will be fearful. Talk to people as you need - SANDs were very helpful for a relative who lost a child at full term.
Is that in the BBC charter ?
Just look how brilliantly the OSA was drafted. Wikipedia may stop working here, Xbox accounts need verifying for social aspects, and a YouGov tweet was censored under the terms of the OSA.
Starting from zero meant they do crazy stuff like having a driving license unit that concentrates nearly 100% on organising driving licenses.
One of my fears is that it becomes overwhelmed by feature creep. Instead of having a relatively minimalist system, consultants and experts persuade the government that it needs to be a massive system interlinked with everything else. This may end up advantaging the consultants and no-one else...
As one example, remember the massively expensive failure that was the mid-2000s NHS IT project.
"Originally expected to cost £2.3 billion (bn) over three years, in June 2006 the total cost was estimated by the National Audit Office to be £12.4bn over 10 years"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_Connecting_for_Health
Whatever's done needs to be as small a system as possible.
All my sympathy to you and your wife.
Forget us all for a while and look after each other.
And maybe, just maybe, I don't want this shitbag government or any other asking me for my papers online.
"Residents in a town that was at the centre of a safety row over its hanging baskets have been left puzzled after flags appeared on the same lamp-posts."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y8lezv5xxo
People are crossing the channel in small boats. They're coming here in person, to work in person.
So, obviously, an online ID card will stop that.
I'm very worried these incompetents will try outlawing VPNs next (I use one regularly for work purposes).
If this goes ahead I expect it to be a huge bonanza for various IT consultancy firms as the British state decides they have to design something from first principles instead.
The Estonian scheme would need scaling up, of course.
https://x.com/secwar/status/1971342502650429458?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q
Day after day of uncritical broadcasting on behalf of Farage et al is not just stupid, it is boring.
I also note that the coverage of the Lib Dem conference going on at the same time was literally zero.
It is sad to see the Thunderer turned into a witless Murdoch propaganda sheet, and even though I have generally read the paper to appreciate the views of political opponents, the rag is becoming unreadable.
In other news, the Lib Dems had a successful conference and are rising in the polls, looking like they are overtaking the Tories and closing on Labour.
1) they pass a law to ban VPNs
2) they get told that this will cause the end of IT in the U.K.
3) the Registrar Of VPNs is setup - only VPNs that are registered are allowed.
4) after 14 years and 26Bn the Registry goes live
5) it promptly collapses in a cyber attack carried out by a 17 year old from Basingstoke.
6) it turns out not to work
7) meanwhile the functionality built in to every “authorised” VPN, so that it can report all sites accessed to the government, has turned out to collapse performance and create a series of fundamental security risks.
8) Questions about the program are asked. Why is the CEO of the registry on £1.8 per annum? Why does the office building leak so badly that the ground floor is actually a fish tank? Why are VPNs used by the Mafia, Triads registered, and never report data the way they should?
So, the public realm and cycle lanes = the Dutch/Danes, HS2/trams/nuclear = the French, housing = the Germans, ID cards = the Estonians. Then implement a long term skills plan over 10 years that sees young British kids learn from them and take on these roles in the future.
NEW THREAD
I'm so sorry. I don't know whether you'll appreciate it, but the three of you will be in my prayers tonight.
So, sometimes, it might be reasonable to create something new - and the Bank of England work on a digital pound is one to watch for where that could also be a British success - but most of the time it won't.
I've experienced several miscarriages, which are not the same and not as bad, but have some similarities. My older brother was stillborn and my best friend's first child was stillborn too. If you're reading this, take the time to make some memories, if it feels right. The hospital will have ideas and advice along with the various charities. But mostly just look after your wife and yourself and be kind to yourself. There will be better times ahead.