How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
Slicing England, a single realm, into pathetic little regional assemblies is unacceptable. Why should Scotland not be cut into Lowlands, Highlands, and Islands, as those three parts would more closely resemble the Welsh Assembly's size?
If a Parliament is good enough for Scotland it's good enough for England. Cutting England into pieces because the political class think the English less worthwhile than the Scots is not acceptable.
I knew you would rise to the Bring Back the Heptarchy call! Brings back our discussions of 2012-3 ...
I hadn't got MD down as a self hating Yorkshireman, but there you go, apparently.
... not sure where you got that from. I rather like being from Yorkshire. That doesn't mean I want to cut England into pieces.
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
Slicing England, a single realm, into pathetic little regional assemblies is unacceptable. Why should Scotland not be cut into Lowlands, Highlands, and Islands, as those three parts would more closely resemble the Welsh Assembly's size?
If a Parliament is good enough for Scotland it's good enough for England. Cutting England into pieces because the political class think the English less worthwhile than the Scots is not acceptable.
I knew you would rise to the Bring Back the Heptarchy call! Brings back our discussions of 2012-3 ...
The Heptarchy is largely a discredited theory (the number of kingdoms was continually changing over time). Also, Northumbria had quite a lot of modern Scotland, I believe...
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
Slicing England, a single realm, into pathetic little regional assemblies is unacceptable. Why should Scotland not be cut into Lowlands, Highlands, and Islands, as those three parts would more closely resemble the Welsh Assembly's size?
If a Parliament is good enough for Scotland it's good enough for England. Cutting England into pieces because the political class think the English less worthwhile than the Scots is not acceptable.
I knew you would rise to the Bring Back the Heptarchy call! Brings back our discussions of 2012-3 ...
The Heptarchy is largely a discredited theory (the number of kingdoms was continually changing over time). Also, Northumbria had quite a lot of modern Scotland, I believe...
It's the principle that counts ...
If you want to go back that far, good luck evicting all the Scots from Pictland.
Binman punched naked charity cyclist after mistaking him for pervert
Lee Turnage, 46, injured cyclist riding in World Naked Bike Ride before also assaulting two arresting police officers
A binman punched a naked cyclist taking part in a charity event after mistaking him for a “pervert”.
Lee Turnage, 46, injured the cyclist who was riding in the World Naked Bike Ride event on August 9, a court heard.
He was also found with a knife and attacked two police officers who tried to arrest him outside The Leather Bottle pub in Colchester, Essex.
One of the officers needed medical treatment to glue part of his ear back on as a result of the attack, Ipswich Crown Court was told.
Steven Dyble, mitigating, said the incident began when Turnage “encountered a number of middle-aged men cycling in the nude”.
“That is not to the defendant’s taste, but he reacted very badly to what he thought of, to use the vernacular, as perverts cycling naked in what was a residential area,” Mr Dyble said.
1 - I'd like to see his "14 months suspended for two years" sentence be more like "14 months suspended for 10 years" to give an incentive for longer term good behaviour.
2 - The mitigation is very lawyerly. I'm not sure how "of previous good character" works for someone riding a motorcycle with no insurance, carrying a knife, who made a deliberate decision to assault a member of the public which he carried out, then went for a female PC, and caused ABH to her colleague.
Child Benefits should be linked to x number of years of previous full-time employment. Perhaps 5 to 10 years per child, split between both parents.
Send em down pit before school.
If you don't have what it takes to look after yourself then you certainly don't have what it takes to adequately raise a child. We need to be far clearer and far louder about that.
There is some truth in what you say. But actions have consequences beyond your intention. Take away child benefit from the poorest, expect a bigger underclass, more need for social care, more crime, more misery and ultimately more expense for the taxpayer.
Getting rid of surestart was a huge false economy, lets not to do the same with child benefit. The formative years are important, if we neglect them for a chunk of the population, that chunk of the population will be very expensive to manage for all of us as they grow up in addition to screwing up the lives of kids who have no choice in who their parents are.
Amused that @Foss thinks that people who 'don't have what it takes to look after yourself' have what it takes to calculate whether having another child is financially viable.
Many, many years ago, there was an impassioned column in the Independent, arguing that teenage pregnancy "to get a council house" couldn't be true. Because by adding up the life time benefits of finishing school vs teenage pregnancy - including the NPV........
That's not the point though is it, the difference to the rest of society is between the cost of child poverty, personal to the child themselves and the costs to the rest of society in social care, policing, crime etc of a trouble teen then adult and the benefit that alleviating child poverty could bring, happy, educated, productive teen then adult.
That's why Surestart was worth it, the ROI both in monetary and societal gains.
It's a net benefit even to those people with a selfish worldview who "don't want to reward people who can't afford their children".
My thought, at the time, as a teenager myself (doing Economics A Level) was that any teenager who would sit down and plan their life based on a detailed study of economic opportunities combined with an NPV analysis....
Just thinking about the health and financial implications of forcing rational parents, who never,e ver have little accidents, to wait 11 years for their second child and again for their third (assuming that mum was out of the workforce for 2 years).
Plus it's not as if the upper and middle classes show particularly good examples in child care even when they have plenty of money, e.g. after divorce. For instance, decades ago, one Tory hate campaign against shiftless shaggers on council estates was badly derailed when one cabinet minister turned out to be doing the same, only in rather more comfort ...
Edit: wrong mental analysis - 6 years between children is the correct figure, sorry, if both parents are working, or 10 if one parent is not working.
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
Slicing England, a single realm, into pathetic little regional assemblies is unacceptable. Why should Scotland not be cut into Lowlands, Highlands, and Islands, as those three parts would more closely resemble the Welsh Assembly's size?
If a Parliament is good enough for Scotland it's good enough for England. Cutting England into pieces because the political class think the English less worthwhile than the Scots is not acceptable.
I knew you would rise to the Bring Back the Heptarchy call! Brings back our discussions of 2012-3 ...
I hadn't got MD down as a self hating Yorkshireman, but there you go, apparently.
... not sure where you got that from. I rather like being from Yorkshire. That doesn't mean I want to cut England into pieces.
The implication of it's being a "pathetic little region".
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
See “Republicans for Mamdani”.
They’re all looking forward to him either failing miserably to do what he’s said he would, or to succeed at it and show the rest of the country why socialism never works.
In my case, I am in favour of localism. Which means the local government has to have the power and ability to fuck up.
Think the Swiss system - where power is genuinely devolved.
Same here, including letting devolved authorities raise most of their own money and competing with each other to attract people and businesses.
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
See “Republicans for Mamdani”.
They’re all looking forward to him either failing miserably to do what he’s said he would, or to succeed at it and show the rest of the country why socialism never works.
In my case, I am in favour of localism. Which means the local government has to have the power and ability to fuck up.
Think the Swiss system - where power is genuinely devolved.
The electorate in typical fashion is very much in favour of localism but hates a post code lottery outcome.
Binman punched naked charity cyclist after mistaking him for pervert
Lee Turnage, 46, injured cyclist riding in World Naked Bike Ride before also assaulting two arresting police officers
A binman punched a naked cyclist taking part in a charity event after mistaking him for a “pervert”.
Lee Turnage, 46, injured the cyclist who was riding in the World Naked Bike Ride event on August 9, a court heard.
He was also found with a knife and attacked two police officers who tried to arrest him outside The Leather Bottle pub in Colchester, Essex.
One of the officers needed medical treatment to glue part of his ear back on as a result of the attack, Ipswich Crown Court was told.
Steven Dyble, mitigating, said the incident began when Turnage “encountered a number of middle-aged men cycling in the nude”.
“That is not to the defendant’s taste, but he reacted very badly to what he thought of, to use the vernacular, as perverts cycling naked in what was a residential area,” Mr Dyble said.
1 - I'd like to see his "14 months suspended for two years" sentence be more like "14 months suspended for 10 years" to give an incentive for longer term good behaviour.
2 - The mitigation is very lawyerly. I'm not sure how "of previous good character" works for someone riding a motorcycle with no insurance, carrying a knife, who made a deliberate decision to assault a member of the public which he carried out, then went for a female PC, and caused ABH to her colleague.
3 - The comments are very Telegraph.
How does 2 year suspended sentencing work when typical court waiting time is about 2 years anyway?
Child Benefits should be linked to x number of years of previous full-time employment. Perhaps 5 to 10 years per child, split between both parents.
Send em down pit before school.
If you don't have what it takes to look after yourself then you certainly don't have what it takes to adequately raise a child. We need to be far clearer and far louder about that.
There is some truth in what you say. But actions have consequences beyond your intention. Take away child benefit from the poorest, expect a bigger underclass, more need for social care, more crime, more misery and ultimately more expense for the taxpayer.
Getting rid of surestart was a huge false economy, lets not to do the same with child benefit. The formative years are important, if we neglect them for a chunk of the population, that chunk of the population will be very expensive to manage for all of us as they grow up in addition to screwing up the lives of kids who have no choice in who their parents are.
Amused that @Foss thinks that people who 'don't have what it takes to look after yourself' have what it takes to calculate whether having another child is financially viable.
Many, many years ago, there was an impassioned column in the Independent, arguing that teenage pregnancy "to get a council house" couldn't be true. Because by adding up the life time benefits of finishing school vs teenage pregnancy - including the NPV........
I appreciate you're arguing the flip-side of my point but in reality both are true. My general point is that a lot of people don't plan beyond tomorrow, some not even that far.
Its a common problem: 24 Hours From Tulsa
Dearest darlin I had to write to say that I won't be home anymore cos somethin happend to me while I was driving home and I'm not the same anymore Oh I was only 24 hours from Tulsa ah only one day away from your arms I saw a welcoming light and stopped to rest for the night and that is when I saw her as I pulled in outside of a small motel she was there and so I walked up to her asked where I could get something to eat and she showed me where Oh I was only 24 hours from Tulsa ah only one day away from your arms She took me to a cafe I asked her if she would stay She said okay Oh I was only 24 hours from Tulsa ah only one day away from your arms Oh the jukebox started to play and nightime turned into day as we were dancing closely all of a sudden I lost control as I held her charms and I caressed her, kissed her told her I'd die before I let her out of my arms Oh I was only 24 hours from Tulsa ah only one day away from your arms I hate to do this to you but I love somebody new what can I do and I can never never never go home again
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
That would be about 20 parliaments! Why?
My issue is more the other way. How would an English parliament relate to westminster?
Binman punched naked charity cyclist after mistaking him for pervert
Lee Turnage, 46, injured cyclist riding in World Naked Bike Ride before also assaulting two arresting police officers
A binman punched a naked cyclist taking part in a charity event after mistaking him for a “pervert”.
Lee Turnage, 46, injured the cyclist who was riding in the World Naked Bike Ride event on August 9, a court heard.
He was also found with a knife and attacked two police officers who tried to arrest him outside The Leather Bottle pub in Colchester, Essex.
One of the officers needed medical treatment to glue part of his ear back on as a result of the attack, Ipswich Crown Court was told.
Steven Dyble, mitigating, said the incident began when Turnage “encountered a number of middle-aged men cycling in the nude”.
“That is not to the defendant’s taste, but he reacted very badly to what he thought of, to use the vernacular, as perverts cycling naked in what was a residential area,” Mr Dyble said.
1 - I'd like to see his "14 months suspended for two years" sentence be more like "14 months suspended for 10 years" to give an incentive for longer term good behaviour.
2 - The mitigation is very lawyerly. I'm not sure how "of previous good character" works for someone riding a motorcycle with no insurance, carrying a knife, who made a deliberate decision to assault a member of the public which he carried out, then went for a female PC, and caused ABH to her colleague.
3 - The comments are very Telegraph.
on 3, presumably, most of them say 'I hate cyclists too'?
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
See “Republicans for Mamdani”.
They’re all looking forward to him either failing miserably to do what he’s said he would, or to succeed at it and show the rest of the country why socialism never works.
In my case, I am in favour of localism. Which means the local government has to have the power and ability to fuck up.
Think the Swiss system - where power is genuinely devolved.
Same here, including letting devolved authorities raise most of their own money and competing with each other to attract people and businesses.
In France, the system results in
More people = More revenue More companies = More revenue
The local mayors are, of course.... not exactly corrupt. But very interested in the amount of revenue they can funnel to their besties.
The payoff for the voters is that when someone builds a big stainless steel industrial facility a couple of fields away, they know that the roads will improve next year and there will be more money for the schools.
So locally, many people turn up to *oppose* NIMBYs.
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
That would be about 20 parliaments! Why?
My issue is more the other way. How would an English parliament relate to westminster?
That is not a good reason to create 20 new parliaments!
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
That would be about 20 parliaments! Why?
My issue is more the other way. How would an English parliament relate to westminster?
That is not a good reason to create 20 new parliaments!
But maybe better if we sweep away all the county and unitary authorities. So South West loses Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset county councils but gains a central Council/Parliament.
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
See “Republicans for Mamdani”.
They’re all looking forward to him either failing miserably to do what he’s said he would, or to succeed at it and show the rest of the country why socialism never works.
In my case, I am in favour of localism. Which means the local government has to have the power and ability to fuck up.
Think the Swiss system - where power is genuinely devolved.
Same here, including letting devolved authorities raise most of their own money and competing with each other to attract people and businesses.
In France, the system results in
More people = More revenue More companies = More revenue
The local mayors are, of course.... not exactly corrupt. But very interested in the amount of revenue they can funnel to their besties.
The payoff for the voters is that when someone builds a big stainless steel industrial facility a couple of fields away, they know that the roads will improve next year and there will be more money for the schools.
So locally, many people turn up to *oppose* NIMBYs.
Indeed, the local politicans are incentivised to get more houses built and more businesses moving in, and the residents know that the end result is lower taxes per property and better public services.
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
That would be about 20 parliaments! Why?
No, 12 and four of those already exist (including London).
And to answer your question, because regional government works elsewhere and delivers proper devolution in a way our fragmented hotchpotch of a system cannot eg. Germany. It also provides the potential for an alternative basis for appointing members of a properly accountable second chamber to replace the Lords eg. Germany again.
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
That would be about 20 parliaments! Why?
My issue is more the other way. How would an English parliament relate to westminster?
That is not a good reason to create 20 new parliaments!
But maybe better if we sweep away all the county and unitary authorities. So South West loses Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset county councils but gains a central Council/Parliament.
Sounds like re-organisation for re-organisations sake alone. If the people of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset suddenly overwhelmingly agree they are in favour of this, lets listen to it as we did for the Scots and Welsh. But there is no sign of that so why impose significant change on them?
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
That would be about 20 parliaments! Why?
No, 12 and four of those already exist (including London).
And to answer your question, because regional government works elsewhere and delivers proper devolution in a way our fragmented hotchpotch of a system cannot eg. Germany. It also provides the potential for an alternative basis for appointing members of a properly accountable second chamber to replace the Lords eg. Germany again.
With 12 the average is still going to be a lot bigger than the average of Scotland, Wales and NI.
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
That would be about 20 parliaments! Why?
My issue is more the other way. How would an English parliament relate to westminster?
That is not a good reason to create 20 new parliaments!
But maybe better if we sweep away all the county and unitary authorities. So South West loses Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset county councils but gains a central Council/Parliament.
Sounds like re-organisation for re-organisations sake alone. If the people of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset suddenly overwhelmingly agree they are in favour of this, lets listen to it as we did for the Scots and Welsh. But there is no sign of that so why impose significant change on them?
England is too coherent to be split up but too big and diverse to be run well as a single country, and too big versus the other four parts of the UK for the UK to work as a coherent, symmetrically devolved system.
Won't somebody think of Sir Laurie, he never gets a day off.
The smug entitlement, the wholly unwarranted moral superiority because they are in the Labour party and therefore "better" in some way, the ignorance of and complete uninterest in the rules, the arrogance of simply assuming that any such rules do not apply to the likes of them, its grim.
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
That would be about 20 parliaments! Why?
No, 12 and four of those already exist (including London).
And to answer your question, because regional government works elsewhere and delivers proper devolution in a way our fragmented hotchpotch of a system cannot eg. Germany. It also provides the potential for an alternative basis for appointing members of a properly accountable second chamber to replace the Lords eg. Germany again.
With 12 the average is still going to be a lot bigger than the average of Scotland, Wales and NI.
Wales is best regarded as sui generis, arguably, rather like the IoW, Shetland and Orkney are for parliamentary constitencies.
And NI certainly is - for one thing it's a different entity legally in terms of the EU.
Moreover Scotland has its own legal system anyway, so can't be broken up without adding a further tier (though it doesn't have that many to begin with - it doesn't even have parish councils, as opposed to primarily advisory community councils).
Months back I identified Streeting as Labour's Liz Truss...
Labour's Truss would be if SKS goes and the members pick somebody from the ideological Left who makes them feel good but is clueless and incompetent. Streeting, like him or not, doesn't fit the bill.
There's always Ed Milliband...
Now you're talking. If the goal is apoplexy at the TeleMail - and there are worse goals let's face it - that's the way to go. After all these years, fully a decade after we missed the chance, we can finally have "chaos with Ed Miliband".
You may scoff but...
On thread, at 16/1 Ed Miliband is a very good value bet in this market (Streeting is 11/2). He is by some way the most popular Cabinet minister amongst Labour members at a +71% net approval (using Labour List rankings as a close proxy) compared to Streeting who has +17% (still well ahead of Starmer on -11%!!) Miliband is close politically to Burnham and part of the same Mainstream grouping. He has a decent chance of getting the support of 20% of Labour MPs as the soft left candidate to stand against Starmer in a leadership contest, not least because he'll be viewed as the best placed candidate to beat Streeting.
It doesn't matter to the Labour selectorate that Miliband's popularity with the membership is not echoed amongst the general public, although I think that anyone who moves against Starmer will pick up some credit with the public in the present climate. Miliband is also well placed to court support from those who have switched allegiance to the Greens or Lib Dems which is the group from which Labour really needs to win back support under new leadership.
He's also clearly interested in standing. There was no particular imperative for him to weigh in today to publically echo Streeting's call for the No 10 briefers to be sacked, but he's chosen to do so anyway, which helps keep him in the frame.
I wasn't really scoffing. Ed is a decent long shot bet if you want to avoid the fav. But I think Streeting myself and I don't think he's too short at current odds. I also wouldn't get too swept up with "Starmer is toast next year" sentiment. I don't see him leading into the next GE but 1.9 to go in 2026 doesn't appeal. I'd be more inclined to back 27/28 at much higher prices.
The Labour membership/selectorate isn't keen on Streeting because he's made his name divisively marginalising the left, and much prefers EdM. That could change (this week's debacle is clearly helpful to Streeting) or the membersip could change. I know a fair number of Labour people like me who are waiting to see how the new party's conference in two weeks works out - if it produces a positive left-wing force with a reasonable chance, a lot of us will be tempted (but if it's a shambolic squabble over rules, then not), which would leave a rump of members who like Streeting.
What do voters want? Primarily leadership with a clear, attractive medium-term agenda. I don't think most voters think of themselves as especially left- or right-wing, though they react against people seen as extreme and negative (e.g. Scargill).
Update: It was widely reported that the briefing was against Streeting but the BBC reports that it was also against Miliband which I had missed. "Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Health Secretary Wes Streeting were both named as potential challengers in the anonymous briefings - now both are calling for whoever was behind them to be found and sacked." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8vn4vv87xo
That just reinforces my view that Miliband is extraordinary value at 16/1 next Labour leader or even better 25/1 next PM.
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
Isn't that why they put the cap on the Poll Tax, because everyone was blaming the Thatcher government for the high bills rather than the Labour councils? Which, of course, completely defeated the whole point.
Binman punched naked charity cyclist after mistaking him for pervert
Lee Turnage, 46, injured cyclist riding in World Naked Bike Ride before also assaulting two arresting police officers
A binman punched a naked cyclist taking part in a charity event after mistaking him for a “pervert”.
Lee Turnage, 46, injured the cyclist who was riding in the World Naked Bike Ride event on August 9, a court heard.
He was also found with a knife and attacked two police officers who tried to arrest him outside The Leather Bottle pub in Colchester, Essex.
One of the officers needed medical treatment to glue part of his ear back on as a result of the attack, Ipswich Crown Court was told.
Steven Dyble, mitigating, said the incident began when Turnage “encountered a number of middle-aged men cycling in the nude”.
“That is not to the defendant’s taste, but he reacted very badly to what he thought of, to use the vernacular, as perverts cycling naked in what was a residential area,” Mr Dyble said.
1 - I'd like to see his "14 months suspended for two years" sentence be more like "14 months suspended for 10 years" to give an incentive for longer term good behaviour.
2 - The mitigation is very lawyerly. I'm not sure how "of previous good character" works for someone riding a motorcycle with no insurance, carrying a knife, who made a deliberate decision to assault a member of the public which he carried out, then went for a female PC, and caused ABH to her colleague.
3 - The comments are very Telegraph.
How does 2 year suspended sentencing work when typical court waiting time is about 2 years anyway?
Binman punched naked charity cyclist after mistaking him for pervert
Lee Turnage, 46, injured cyclist riding in World Naked Bike Ride before also assaulting two arresting police officers
A binman punched a naked cyclist taking part in a charity event after mistaking him for a “pervert”.
Lee Turnage, 46, injured the cyclist who was riding in the World Naked Bike Ride event on August 9, a court heard.
He was also found with a knife and attacked two police officers who tried to arrest him outside The Leather Bottle pub in Colchester, Essex.
One of the officers needed medical treatment to glue part of his ear back on as a result of the attack, Ipswich Crown Court was told.
Steven Dyble, mitigating, said the incident began when Turnage “encountered a number of middle-aged men cycling in the nude”.
“That is not to the defendant’s taste, but he reacted very badly to what he thought of, to use the vernacular, as perverts cycling naked in what was a residential area,” Mr Dyble said.
1 - I'd like to see his "14 months suspended for two years" sentence be more like "14 months suspended for 10 years" to give an incentive for longer term good behaviour.
2 - The mitigation is very lawyerly. I'm not sure how "of previous good character" works for someone riding a motorcycle with no insurance, carrying a knife, who made a deliberate decision to assault a member of the public which he carried out, then went for a female PC, and caused ABH to her colleague.
3 - The comments are very Telegraph.
on 3, presumably, most of them say 'I hate cyclists too'?
I think it's a full link from TSE< so you can read it and indulge.
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
See “Republicans for Mamdani”.
They’re all looking forward to him either failing miserably to do what he’s said he would, or to succeed at it and show the rest of the country why socialism never works.
In my case, I am in favour of localism. Which means the local government has to have the power and ability to fuck up.
Think the Swiss system - where power is genuinely devolved.
Not devolved. Devolved means it can be taken back if the government of the day wants.* Federalised is the mot juste.
*Which is why one has to be very careful when reading claims that Holyrood is 'the most devolved whatever in the world'.
The government of the day recently grabbing back powers over gender legislation and a recycling scheme (to give the SNP a black eye according to the then SoS) must mean Holyrood is really, REALLY devolved in the power retained sense.
It reminds me that I haven't heard about Devo Max for a while. Hearing various pronouncers including on PB stating that the Vow was virtually the same as Devo Max seems like a very long time ago. Almost a generation in fact.
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
See “Republicans for Mamdani”.
They’re all looking forward to him either failing miserably to do what he’s said he would, or to succeed at it and show the rest of the country why socialism never works.
In my case, I am in favour of localism. Which means the local government has to have the power and ability to fuck up.
Think the Swiss system - where power is genuinely devolved.
Not devolved. Devolved means it can be taken back if the government of the day wants.* Federalised is the mot juste.
*Which is why one has to be very careful when reading claims that Holyrood is 'the most devolved whatever in the world'.
The government of the day recently grabbing back powers over gender legislation and a recycling scheme (to give the SNP a black eye according to the then SoS) must mean Holyrood is really, REALLY devolved in the power retained sense.
It reminds me that I haven't heard about Devo Max for a while. Hearing various pronouncers including on PB stating that the Vow was virtually the same as Devo Max seems like a very long time ago. Almost a generation in fact.
On gender legislation - the Supreme Court ruled that the stack of legislation that had been passed added up to X. The also added, that if you want different, pass different laws.
Not sure how that's a power grab by the Government of the UK.
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
See “Republicans for Mamdani”.
They’re all looking forward to him either failing miserably to do what he’s said he would, or to succeed at it and show the rest of the country why socialism never works.
In my case, I am in favour of localism. Which means the local government has to have the power and ability to fuck up.
Think the Swiss system - where power is genuinely devolved.
Not devolved. Devolved means it can be taken back if the government of the day wants.* Federalised is the mot juste.
*Which is why one has to be very careful when reading claims that Holyrood is 'the most devolved whatever in the world'.
The government of the day recently grabbing back powers over gender legislation and a recycling scheme (to give the SNP a black eye according to the then SoS) must mean Holyrood is really, REALLY devolved in the power retained sense.
It reminds me that I haven't heard about Devo Max for a while. Hearing various pronouncers including on PB stating that the Vow was virtually the same as Devo Max seems like a very long time ago. Almost a generation in fact.
On gender legislation - the Supreme Court ruled that the stack of legislation that had been passed added up to X. The also added, that if you want different, pass different laws.
Not sure how that's a power grab by the Government of the UK.
Thank goodness it was entirely a matter of law and nothing to do with low, grubby politicians.
'Alister Jack, as the former Secretary of State for Scotland, used a Section 35 order to block the Scottish Parliament's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from becoming law in January 2023.'
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
See “Republicans for Mamdani”.
They’re all looking forward to him either failing miserably to do what he’s said he would, or to succeed at it and show the rest of the country why socialism never works.
In my case, I am in favour of localism. Which means the local government has to have the power and ability to fuck up.
Think the Swiss system - where power is genuinely devolved.
Not devolved. Devolved means it can be taken back if the government of the day wants.* Federalised is the mot juste.
*Which is why one has to be very careful when reading claims that Holyrood is 'the most devolved whatever in the world'.
The government of the day recently grabbing back powers over gender legislation and a recycling scheme (to give the SNP a black eye according to the then SoS) must mean Holyrood is really, REALLY devolved in the power retained sense.
It reminds me that I haven't heard about Devo Max for a while. Hearing various pronouncers including on PB stating that the Vow was virtually the same as Devo Max seems like a very long time ago. Almost a generation in fact.
On gender legislation - the Supreme Court ruled that the stack of legislation that had been passed added up to X. The also added, that if you want different, pass different laws.
Not sure how that's a power grab by the Government of the UK.
On the recycling scheme an idiot Green (apologies for the tautology) minister needed permission to operate the scheme under the UK rules for a single market and didn't bother to get it with the result that the Scottish government is now being sued for tens of millions. I think its pretty obvious where the fault lies here.
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
See “Republicans for Mamdani”.
They’re all looking forward to him either failing miserably to do what he’s said he would, or to succeed at it and show the rest of the country why socialism never works.
In my case, I am in favour of localism. Which means the local government has to have the power and ability to fuck up.
Think the Swiss system - where power is genuinely devolved.
Not devolved. Devolved means it can be taken back if the government of the day wants.* Federalised is the mot juste.
*Which is why one has to be very careful when reading claims that Holyrood is 'the most devolved whatever in the world'.
The government of the day recently grabbing back powers over gender legislation and a recycling scheme (to give the SNP a black eye according to the then SoS) must mean Holyrood is really, REALLY devolved in the power retained sense.
It reminds me that I haven't heard about Devo Max for a while. Hearing various pronouncers including on PB stating that the Vow was virtually the same as Devo Max seems like a very long time ago. Almost a generation in fact.
On gender legislation - the Supreme Court ruled that the stack of legislation that had been passed added up to X. The also added, that if you want different, pass different laws.
Not sure how that's a power grab by the Government of the UK.
Thank goodness it was entirely a matter of law and nothing to dow with low, grubby politicians.
'Alister Jack, as the former Secretary of State for Scotland, used a Section 35 order to block the Scottish Parliament's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from becoming law in January 2023.'
... because he had an obligation under the various acts to prevent laws being passed that contravened the relevant human rights legislation. Which is what the Supreme Court found to be true.
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
That would be about 20 parliaments! Why?
No, 12 and four of those already exist (including London).
And to answer your question, because regional government works elsewhere and delivers proper devolution in a way our fragmented hotchpotch of a system cannot eg. Germany. It also provides the potential for an alternative basis for appointing members of a properly accountable second chamber to replace the Lords eg. Germany again.
With 12 the average is still going to be a lot bigger than the average of Scotland, Wales and NI.
No need for speculation, the 9 English regions have existed for decades for administrative purposes within central government classifications. North, North West, Yorks & Humber, East Mids, West Mids, East, London, SE, SW. Roughly of equivalent average size to the German Laender.
"Giving its AA rating, S&P Global said: “As a devolved nation, the Scottish Government (Scotland) operates within a stable and predictable institutional framework that provides strong oversight and well-defined arrangements with the UK central government."
Jeffrey Epstein appears to have confirmed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed with Virginia Giuffre, according to a newly released email.
The message sent by Epstein - who is alleged to have taken the photo - reads: "Yes she [Giuffre] was on my plane and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew."
Binman punched naked charity cyclist after mistaking him for pervert
Lee Turnage, 46, injured cyclist riding in World Naked Bike Ride before also assaulting two arresting police officers
A binman punched a naked cyclist taking part in a charity event after mistaking him for a “pervert”.
Lee Turnage, 46, injured the cyclist who was riding in the World Naked Bike Ride event on August 9, a court heard.
He was also found with a knife and attacked two police officers who tried to arrest him outside The Leather Bottle pub in Colchester, Essex.
One of the officers needed medical treatment to glue part of his ear back on as a result of the attack, Ipswich Crown Court was told.
Steven Dyble, mitigating, said the incident began when Turnage “encountered a number of middle-aged men cycling in the nude”.
“That is not to the defendant’s taste, but he reacted very badly to what he thought of, to use the vernacular, as perverts cycling naked in what was a residential area,” Mr Dyble said.
1 - I'd like to see his "14 months suspended for two years" sentence be more like "14 months suspended for 10 years" to give an incentive for longer term good behaviour.
2 - The mitigation is very lawyerly. I'm not sure how "of previous good character" works for someone riding a motorcycle with no insurance, carrying a knife, who made a deliberate decision to assault a member of the public which he carried out, then went for a female PC, and caused ABH to her colleague.
3 - The comments are very Telegraph.
on 3, presumably, most of them say 'I hate cyclists too'?
I think it's a full link from TSE< so you can read it and indulge.
If not, I can post one.
Oh, sorry, I hadn't rtealised.
Somewhat to my surprise they didn't complain very much about cyclists per se, although one does get a sense that it's somehow [edit!!] seen as part of being a cyclist to do something perverted like that.
Besides, it's a pretty low bar, comparing cyclists to perverts.
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
See “Republicans for Mamdani”.
They’re all looking forward to him either failing miserably to do what he’s said he would, or to succeed at it and show the rest of the country why socialism never works.
In my case, I am in favour of localism. Which means the local government has to have the power and ability to fuck up.
Think the Swiss system - where power is genuinely devolved.
Not devolved. Devolved means it can be taken back if the government of the day wants.* Federalised is the mot juste.
*Which is why one has to be very careful when reading claims that Holyrood is 'the most devolved whatever in the world'.
The government of the day recently grabbing back powers over gender legislation and a recycling scheme (to give the SNP a black eye according to the then SoS) must mean Holyrood is really, REALLY devolved in the power retained sense.
It reminds me that I haven't heard about Devo Max for a while. Hearing various pronouncers including on PB stating that the Vow was virtually the same as Devo Max seems like a very long time ago. Almost a generation in fact.
On gender legislation - the Supreme Court ruled that the stack of legislation that had been passed added up to X. The also added, that if you want different, pass different laws.
Not sure how that's a power grab by the Government of the UK.
Thank goodness it was entirely a matter of law and nothing to do with low, grubby politicians.
'Alister Jack, as the former Secretary of State for Scotland, used a Section 35 order to block the Scottish Parliament's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from becoming law in January 2023.'
He did that because he believed (or was no doubt advised) that the legislation was incompatible with the Equalities Act. Advice and belief that was wholly vindicated by the SC. He would have been failing in his duty to do anything else.
How will that change the role of Regional Mayors? Will they gain the role, or will those who have them already lose the role?
Going to be fun in areas like County Durham where one of the police forces runs across 2 regional mayors and that police force refuses to merge with either of the other forces (for sane reasons).
The more I read about it the more disorganised English local government seems to be, all those single and dual tier and mayors and so on. In contrast Scotland here seems is a shining beacon of simplicity - one polis, one level of local gmt under Holyrood, and so on. Not saying that that is always best, but to me English local gmt does seem to be heading the way of the American police system.
Don't need to tell me that. We should have an English Parliament, but that's something that Westminster finds impossible to countenance.
What would an English Parliament do for us? Be better off split into regionals to match the sizes (roughly) of Scotland, Wales and NI.
That would be about 20 parliaments! Why?
No, 12 and four of those already exist (including London).
And to answer your question, because regional government works elsewhere and delivers proper devolution in a way our fragmented hotchpotch of a system cannot eg. Germany. It also provides the potential for an alternative basis for appointing members of a properly accountable second chamber to replace the Lords eg. Germany again.
With 12 the average is still going to be a lot bigger than the average of Scotland, Wales and NI.
No need for speculation, the 9 English regions have existed for decades for administrative purposes within central government classifications. North, North West, Yorks & Humber, East Mids, West Mids, East, London, SE, SW. Roughly of equivalent average size to the German Laender.
TT posted we should have parliaments that roughly match the sizes of Scotland, Wales and NI so I was obviously discussing that, hence the roughly 20 number, not parliaments that are roughly the size of the German Laender.
Big Short" investor Michael Burry, known for his successful bets against the U.S. housing market in 2008, has deregistered his hedge fund, Scion Asset Management.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's database, opens new tab showed Scion's registration status as "terminated" as of November 10. Deregistering would imply the fund is not required to file reports with the regulator or any state.
Big Short" investor Michael Burry, known for his successful bets against the U.S. housing market in 2008, has deregistered his hedge fund, Scion Asset Management.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's database, opens new tab showed Scion's registration status as "terminated" as of November 10. Deregistering would imply the fund is not required to file reports with the regulator or any state.
Looks like the cycle-to-work scheme is heading to the bin. Meanwhile the cuts to fuel duty have cost us over £100 billion.
Surely you appreciate that if that £100bn had been extracted from the economy in fuel duty we would have had a recession so deep we might not have found the bottom of it? The idea is to pluck the goose with the minimum amount of hissing, not wrench its bloodied head off.
Looks like the cycle-to-work scheme is heading to the bin. Meanwhile the cuts to fuel duty have cost us over £100 billion.
Surely you appreciate that if that £100bn had been extracted from the economy in fuel duty we would have had a recession so deep we might not have found the bottom of it? The idea is to pluck the goose with the minimum amount of hissing, not wrench its bloodied head off.
It's a cumulative £100 billion since the cuts started. Or 3x HS2 to Manchester. Or 100,000 miles of cycle infrastructure. Or 200,000 electric buses.
Looks like the cycle-to-work scheme is heading to the bin. Meanwhile the cuts to fuel duty have cost us over £100 billion.
Surely you appreciate that if that £100bn had been extracted from the economy in fuel duty we would have had a recession so deep we might not have found the bottom of it? The idea is to pluck the goose with the minimum amount of hissing, not wrench its bloodied head off.
It's a cumulative £100 billion since the cuts started.
False accounting.
Work out the cumulative amount of revenues the taxpayers has received from drivers via fuel duty etc
Work out the cumulative expenditure on the roads etc
Drivers have been fleeced. This supposed cut is nothing of the sort.
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
It would be interesting (to an outside observer) to see what level of council tax turns house prices negative - I.E. the long run liability for council tax will exceed the value of the house. It will be possible - I'd imagine a £10k pa liability for a 2 bed terrace worth £100k before attempting this nonsense would be getting close.
I think there are two problems with just letting loony leftism happen and waiting for the voters to throw them out. One is that the resultant bankruptcys will make one heck of a mess (eg would central government end up paying all the redundancy money) and the other is that it's very rough indeed on the unfortunates who happen to live in such areas, but weren't as stupid as to vote for the hard left. People can vote with their feet, but moving home is a big deal, as even then they potentially take a tremendous hit (eg my somewhat tongue in cheek example above, where council tax is raised so high house prices turn negative).
Looks like the cycle-to-work scheme is heading to the bin. Meanwhile the cuts to fuel duty have cost us over £100 billion.
Surely you appreciate that if that £100bn had been extracted from the economy in fuel duty we would have had a recession so deep we might not have found the bottom of it? The idea is to pluck the goose with the minimum amount of hissing, not wrench its bloodied head off.
It's a cumulative £100 billion since the cuts started.
Which cuts to fuel duty are we talking about - the change to not increase by inflation from 2011 or the 5p cut in 2022.
The later costs about £2.4bn a year and has probably benefited the owners of Asda and Morrison’s more than anyone else
Looks like the cycle-to-work scheme is heading to the bin. Meanwhile the cuts to fuel duty have cost us over £100 billion.
What's the excuse - "Expensive bikes for the well off"?
Yes, I think so. I don't really understand how they can justify that while simultaneously providing a £4,000 grant for new EVs. That's the same as the entire cost of a very good e-bike.
This is an actively regressive government on transport - even more so when you consider the lack of action of bus services (down 50%) and fares (up 100%).
Jeffrey Epstein appears to have confirmed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed with Virginia Giuffre, according to a newly released email.
The message sent by Epstein - who is alleged to have taken the photo - reads: "Yes she [Giuffre] was on my plane and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew."
Looks like the cycle-to-work scheme is heading to the bin. Meanwhile the cuts to fuel duty have cost us over £100 billion.
Surely you appreciate that if that £100bn had been extracted from the economy in fuel duty we would have had a recession so deep we might not have found the bottom of it? The idea is to pluck the goose with the minimum amount of hissing, not wrench its bloodied head off.
It's a cumulative £100 billion since the cuts started. Or 3x HS2 to Manchester. Or 100,000 miles of cycle infrastructure. Or 200,000 electric buses.
But it's not a magic money tree. Every penny of that £100bn would have come out of someone's pocket - and in doing so driven inflation up, and economic activity down.
With the economy in the toilet, fuel duty is one of the stupidest possible taxes to raise.
Jeffrey Epstein appears to have confirmed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed with Virginia Giuffre, according to a newly released email.
The message sent by Epstein - who is alleged to have taken the photo - reads: "Yes she [Giuffre] was on my plane and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew."
Looks like the cycle-to-work scheme is heading to the bin. Meanwhile the cuts to fuel duty have cost us over £100 billion.
I thought the cycle to work scheme was a con in that it didn't really deliver anything much apart from a sales boost to Evans Cycles. Or so a friend of mine told me some time ago.
Was it a bad idea, or a good idea poorly implemented?
Part of the issue with passing down powers more locally is rarely does it attract high quality local non-partisan candidates. It too often becomes another place to put politicians who have failed elsewhere. Police and Crime Commissioners being a good example. It is rarely if ever now some local non-political person who is highly experienced getting the gig.
The first elected Bristol Mayor was an exception, a local guy done good who was geuinely independent of party politics.
Part of the issue with not devolving powers is that central government rarely attracts high quality, let alone non partisan candidates...
And all the money stays in London.
Many years ago, I actually asked a Thatcher era cabinet minister why they didn't simply let the Mad Left Councils go Full Loony - spend infinite amounts of money, raise council tax to the stratosphere.
After all, it would have ended up as a disaster for the Left, and fixed itself within a year or 2.
He was quite horrified at the idea, I recall.
But I do wonder....
It would be interesting (to an outside observer) to see what level of council tax turns house prices negative - I.E. the long run liability for council tax will exceed the value of the house. It will be possible - I'd imagine a £10k pa liability for a 2 bed terrace worth £100k before attempting this nonsense would be getting close.
I think there are two problems with just letting loony leftism happen and waiting for the voters to throw them out. One is that the resultant bankruptcys will make one heck of a mess (eg would central government end up paying all the redundancy money) and the other is that it's very rough indeed on the unfortunates who happen to live in such areas, but weren't as stupid as to vote for the hard left. People can vote with their feet, but moving home is a big deal, as even then they potentially take a tremendous hit (eg my somewhat tongue in cheek example above, where council tax is raised so high house prices turn negative).
Though in the end, local government would have to become responsive to the voters.
It might end up with full on Jacqueries, but I just think of that as enthusiastic voter recall
Big Short" investor Michael Burry, known for his successful bets against the U.S. housing market in 2008, has deregistered his hedge fund, Scion Asset Management.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's database, opens new tab showed Scion's registration status as "terminated" as of November 10. Deregistering would imply the fund is not required to file reports with the regulator or any state.
ChatGPT 5.1 is rather disappointing....It interesting that at the moment I would say the Chinese models are probably the best are writing prose. The Americans ones now love nothing more than to write in bullet points.
Jeffrey Epstein appears to have confirmed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed with Virginia Giuffre, according to a newly released email.
The message sent by Epstein - who is alleged to have taken the photo - reads: "Yes she [Giuffre] was on my plane and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew."
Was that actually in doubt? I thought he'd just said that he couldn't remember it, not that he thought the photo was faked.
HE WAS WEARING TRAVELLING CLOTHES!
'During his interview with BBC, which was widely considered disastrous for the former prince, he addressed the infamous image, saying. "I have absolutely no memory of that photograph ever being taken." "Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don’t recollect that photograph ever being taken," Andrew continued. "From the investigations that we’ve done, you can’t prove whether or not that photograph is faked or not because it is a photograph of a photograph of a photograph," he added. Prince Andrew Virginia Roberts Andrew also questioned his attire and the hand placement in the photo. He pointed out that he was wearing "travelling clothes," which he said he wouldn’t have worn for the occasion. In addition, he queried whether the hand on the waist was his own and raised the possibility of photo editing.'
“I’ve been assured it didn’t come from Downing Street, but I’d be equally clear that whether it’s this case or any other, I intend to deal with it. I will absolutely deal with anybody responsible for briefing against ministers, cabinet ministers or other ministers.”
Big Short" investor Michael Burry, known for his successful bets against the U.S. housing market in 2008, has deregistered his hedge fund, Scion Asset Management.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's database, opens new tab showed Scion's registration status as "terminated" as of November 10. Deregistering would imply the fund is not required to file reports with the regulator or any state.
Exclusive: Based on documents viewed by this newsletter, OpenAI spent over $12.4 billion on inference from 2024 to September 2025. As part of its Microsoft revenue share, it sent $493.8m in 2024/$865.8m Jan-Sep 2025, implying lower revenues than previously reported.
Jeffrey Epstein appears to have confirmed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed with Virginia Giuffre, according to a newly released email.
The message sent by Epstein - who is alleged to have taken the photo - reads: "Yes she [Giuffre] was on my plane and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew."
Was that actually in doubt? I thought he'd just said that he couldn't remember it, not that he thought the photo was faked.
HE WAS WEARING TRAVELLING CLOTHES!
'During his interview with BBC, which was widely considered disastrous for the former prince, he addressed the infamous image, saying. "I have absolutely no memory of that photograph ever being taken." "Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don’t recollect that photograph ever being taken," Andrew continued. "From the investigations that we’ve done, you can’t prove whether or not that photograph is faked or not because it is a photograph of a photograph of a photograph," he added. Prince Andrew Virginia Roberts Andrew also questioned his attire and the hand placement in the photo. He pointed out that he was wearing "travelling clothes," which he said he wouldn’t have worn for the occasion. In addition, he queried whether the hand on the waist was his own and raised the possibility of photo editing.'
Big Short" investor Michael Burry, known for his successful bets against the U.S. housing market in 2008, has deregistered his hedge fund, Scion Asset Management.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's database, opens new tab showed Scion's registration status as "terminated" as of November 10. Deregistering would imply the fund is not required to file reports with the regulator or any state.
Exclusive: Based on documents viewed by this newsletter, OpenAI spent over $12.4 billion on inference from 2024 to September 2025. As part of its Microsoft revenue share, it sent $493.8m in 2024/$865.8m Jan-Sep 2025, implying lower revenues than previously reported.
PBers will be delighted to know a BPC registered pollster is polling me on people who are modest versus people who self promote themselves.
It often seems to me that people either massively over- or under-sell themselves. It's rare to find people who have a well calibrated sense of their own abilities and sell themselves accurately.
ChatGPT 5.1 is rather disappointing....It interesting that at the moment I would say the Chinese models are probably the best are writing prose. The Americans ones now love nothing more than to write in bullet points.
Related to AI, I wrote a script yesterday that automates new pipeline building with Claude code, it took me about half a day to write the script and now the data engineers only have to review the Claude generated code and modify a few bits and pieces. All you need to do is tell it which partner you want to connect to, give it access to auth and it will write you a python script that will bring in your desired fields from the API. It's what I would say is the first production use case that I've been happy with in a while.
ChatGPT 5.1 is rather disappointing....It interesting that at the moment I would say the Chinese models are probably the best are writing prose. The Americans ones now love nothing more than to write in bullet points.
Related to AI, I wrote a script yesterday that automates new pipeline building with Claude code, it took me about half a day to write the script and now the data engineers only have to review the Claude generated code and modify a few bits and pieces. All you need to do is tell it which partner you want to connect to, give it access to auth and it will write you a python script that will bring in your desired fields from the API. It's what I would say is the first production use case that I've been happy with in a while.
You back working?
Claude is very good at coding, although I have found it more recently loves to over complicate solutions.
Jeffrey Epstein appears to have confirmed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed with Virginia Giuffre, according to a newly released email.
The message sent by Epstein - who is alleged to have taken the photo - reads: "Yes she [Giuffre] was on my plane and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew."
Was that actually in doubt? I thought he'd just said that he couldn't remember it, not that he thought the photo was faked.
HE WAS WEARING TRAVELLING CLOTHES!
'During his interview with BBC, which was widely considered disastrous for the former prince, he addressed the infamous image, saying. "I have absolutely no memory of that photograph ever being taken." "Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don’t recollect that photograph ever being taken," Andrew continued. "From the investigations that we’ve done, you can’t prove whether or not that photograph is faked or not because it is a photograph of a photograph of a photograph," he added. Prince Andrew Virginia Roberts Andrew also questioned his attire and the hand placement in the photo. He pointed out that he was wearing "travelling clothes," which he said he wouldn’t have worn for the occasion. In addition, he queried whether the hand on the waist was his own and raised the possibility of photo editing.'
I mean you wouldn't wear the same kind of evening dress for pre-diner drinks on safari as you'd wear if invited to the Captains table on foreign warship, would you?
PBers will be delighted to know a BPC registered pollster is polling me on people who are modest versus people who self promote themselves.
It often seems to me that people either massively over- or under-sell themselves. It's rare to find people who have a well calibrated sense of their own abilities and sell themselves accurately.
That’s what I’ve often found too, I told they survey that too, and that self praise is no praise at all.
I’ve found a sense of humour has often bought me an awful lot of goodwill both professionally and personally.
Big Short" investor Michael Burry, known for his successful bets against the U.S. housing market in 2008, has deregistered his hedge fund, Scion Asset Management.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's database, opens new tab showed Scion's registration status as "terminated" as of November 10. Deregistering would imply the fund is not required to file reports with the regulator or any state.
Exclusive: Based on documents viewed by this newsletter, OpenAI spent over $12.4 billion on inference from 2024 to September 2025. As part of its Microsoft revenue share, it sent $493.8m in 2024/$865.8m Jan-Sep 2025, implying lower revenues than previously reported.
Old news there - but MS get 20% of OpenAI’s revenue so that’s a $4.3bn in revenue for OpenAi from Jan to Sep 2025 but cost of running the service was at least $8.6bn
Looks like the cycle-to-work scheme is heading to the bin. Meanwhile the cuts to fuel duty have cost us over £100 billion.
I've personally benefitted from the cycle-to-work scheme. But it feels to me like it's one of those middle class benefits which is hard to defend or demonstrate the benefits of. Most people I know who use it would have cycled to work anyway. I'd be interested to be shown otherwise.
Looks like the cycle-to-work scheme is heading to the bin. Meanwhile the cuts to fuel duty have cost us over £100 billion.
I've personally benefitted from the cycle-to-work scheme. But it feels to me like it's one of those middle class benefits which is hard to defend or demonstrate the benefits of. Most people I know who use it would have cycled to work anyway. I'd be interested to be shown otherwise.
My wife bought a bike with the scheme and rode to work about twice.
Looks like the cycle-to-work scheme is heading to the bin. Meanwhile the cuts to fuel duty have cost us over £100 billion.
The significance of this is this is precisely why Labour are tanking in the polls - there is no coherent vision on things like transport, with incentives and tax breaks and investment apparently completely at random.
I think people would be much more tolerant of the government's plans if they had such a vision.
Months back I identified Streeting as Labour's Liz Truss...
Labour's Truss would be if SKS goes and the members pick somebody from the ideological Left who makes them feel good but is clueless and incompetent. Streeting, like him or not, doesn't fit the bill.
There's always Ed Milliband...
Now you're talking. If the goal is apoplexy at the TeleMail - and there are worse goals let's face it - that's the way to go. After all these years, fully a decade after we missed the chance, we can finally have "chaos with Ed Miliband".
You may scoff but...
On thread, at 16/1 Ed Miliband is a very good value bet in this market (Streeting is 11/2). He is by some way the most popular Cabinet minister amongst Labour members at a +71% net approval (using Labour List rankings as a close proxy) compared to Streeting who has +17% (still well ahead of Starmer on -11%!!) Miliband is close politically to Burnham and part of the same Mainstream grouping. He has a decent chance of getting the support of 20% of Labour MPs as the soft left candidate to stand against Starmer in a leadership contest, not least because he'll be viewed as the best placed candidate to beat Streeting.
It doesn't matter to the Labour selectorate that Miliband's popularity with the membership is not echoed amongst the general public, although I think that anyone who moves against Starmer will pick up some credit with the public in the present climate. Miliband is also well placed to court support from those who have switched allegiance to the Greens or Lib Dems which is the group from which Labour really needs to win back support under new leadership.
He's also clearly interested in standing. There was no particular imperative for him to weigh in today to publically echo Streeting's call for the No 10 briefers to be sacked, but he's chosen to do so anyway, which helps keep him in the frame.
I wasn't really scoffing. Ed is a decent long shot bet if you want to avoid the fav. But I think Streeting myself and I don't think he's too short at current odds. I also wouldn't get too swept up with "Starmer is toast next year" sentiment. I don't see him leading into the next GE but 1.9 to go in 2026 doesn't appeal. I'd be more inclined to back 27/28 at much higher prices.
The Labour membership/selectorate isn't keen on Streeting because he's made his name divisively marginalising the left, and much prefers EdM. That could change (this week's debacle is clearly helpful to Streeting) or the membersip could change. I know a fair number of Labour people like me who are waiting to see how the new party's conference in two weeks works out - if it produces a positive left-wing force with a reasonable chance, a lot of us will be tempted (but if it's a shambolic squabble over rules, then not), which would leave a rump of members who like Streeting.
What do voters want? Primarily leadership with a clear, attractive medium-term agenda. I don't think most voters think of themselves as especially left- or right-wing, though they react against people seen as extreme and negative (e.g. Scargill).
Update: It was widely reported that the briefing was against Streeting but the BBC reports that it was also against Miliband which I had missed. "Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Health Secretary Wes Streeting were both named as potential challengers in the anonymous briefings - now both are calling for whoever was behind them to be found and sacked." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8vn4vv87xo
That just reinforces my view that Miliband is extraordinary value at 16/1 next Labour leader or even better 25/1 next PM.
Not mine.
Streeting played Downing Street like a violin; Miliband ... well, what did Miliband do ?
Looks like the cycle-to-work scheme is heading to the bin. Meanwhile the cuts to fuel duty have cost us over £100 billion.
I've personally benefitted from the cycle-to-work scheme. But it feels to me like it's one of those middle class benefits which is hard to defend or demonstrate the benefits of. Most people I know who use it would have cycled to work anyway. I'd be interested to be shown otherwise.
Agree with this. I don't actually like the scheme; it's more the contrast with other policies that frustrates me so much. Why a £4k grant for new EVs and not one for new bikes?
Mark Wood sustained a hamstring strain in his first match for nine months in a blow to England’s Ashes plans.
The 35-year-old left the field after bowling eight wicketless overs in England’s only warm-up match against the Lions XI at Lilac Hill in Perth.
He will undergo a scan on his left hamstring on Friday and England remain cautiously optimistic that he will be able to bowl again on the final day of their warm-up match on Saturday. But realistically, it seems unlikely he will play in the first Test next week when England have other fully fit bowlers to choose from.
Comments
The first question was entirely in Welsh and Starmer's expression was hilarious !!!!
1 - I'd like to see his "14 months suspended for two years" sentence be more like "14 months suspended for 10 years" to give an incentive for longer term good behaviour.
2 - The mitigation is very lawyerly. I'm not sure how "of previous good character" works for someone riding a motorcycle with no insurance, carrying a knife, who made a deliberate decision to assault a member of the public which he carried out, then went for a female PC, and caused ABH to her colleague.
3 - The comments are very Telegraph.
* innocent face *
https://x.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1988928646892122467?s=20
Won't somebody think of Sir Laurie, he never gets a day off.
https://x.com/bohuslavskakate/status/1988942723764863358
https://x.com/bohuslavskakate/status/1988943962107965641
24 Hours From Tulsa
Dearest darlin I had to write to say that I won't be home anymore
cos somethin happend to me while I was driving home
and I'm not the same anymore
Oh I was only 24 hours from Tulsa
ah only one day away from your arms
I saw a welcoming light and stopped to rest for the night
and that is when I saw her
as I pulled in outside of a small motel
she was there and so I walked up to her
asked where I could get something to eat and she showed me where
Oh I was only 24 hours from Tulsa
ah only one day away from your arms
She took me to a cafe I asked her if she would stay
She said okay
Oh I was only 24 hours from Tulsa
ah only one day away from your arms
Oh the jukebox started to play
and nightime turned into day as we were dancing closely
all of a sudden I lost control as I held her charms
and I caressed her, kissed her
told her I'd die before I let her out of my arms
Oh I was only 24 hours from Tulsa
ah only one day away from your arms
I hate to do this to you
but I love somebody new
what can I do
and I can never never never go home again
More people = More revenue
More companies = More revenue
The local mayors are, of course.... not exactly corrupt. But very interested in the amount of revenue they can funnel to their besties.
The payoff for the voters is that when someone builds a big stainless steel industrial facility a couple of fields away, they know that the roads will improve next year and there will be more money for the schools.
So locally, many people turn up to *oppose* NIMBYs.
If No 10 briefer is found Keir Starmer will sack them, Miliband says
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/13/if-no-10-briefer-found-keir-starmer-will-sack-them-minister-says
Or is Ed just on manoeuvres ?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lord-edmiston-australia-uk-brexit-conservative-budget-b2861973.html
And to answer your question, because regional government works elsewhere and delivers proper devolution in a way our fragmented hotchpotch of a system cannot eg. Germany. It also provides the potential for an alternative basis for appointing members of a properly accountable second chamber to replace the Lords eg. Germany again.
"Speaking earlier, while clicking his fingers, Lord Edmiston said in Australia he could get a doctor’s appointment “like that”"
He has £850m!! He could employ a dozen GPs full time and it wouldn't noticeably change his wealth.
And NI certainly is - for one thing it's a different entity legally in terms of the EU.
Moreover Scotland has its own legal system anyway, so can't be broken up without adding a further tier (though it doesn't have that many to begin with - it doesn't even have parish councils, as opposed to primarily advisory community councils).
"Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Health Secretary Wes Streeting were both named as potential challengers in the anonymous briefings - now both are calling for whoever was behind them to be found and sacked."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8vn4vv87xo
That just reinforces my view that Miliband is extraordinary value at 16/1 next Labour leader or even better 25/1 next PM.
@jackelsom
NEW: Keir Starmer spoke to his senior No10 team this morning and was assured that no member of Downing Street staff was behind the toxic briefings.
His spokesman says he believes those assurances.
https://x.com/JackElsom/status/1988946833339740564
If not, I can post one.
It reminds me that I haven't heard about Devo Max for a while. Hearing various pronouncers including on PB stating that the Vow was virtually the same as Devo Max seems like a very long time ago. Almost a generation in fact.
Zack Polanski joins Rizzle Kicks out on stage in Bristol
https://x.com/_BoldPolitics/status/1988892530201579648
Not sure how that's a power grab by the Government of the UK.
·
3m
Verdict of one Labour grandee: “Ed Miliband is the person most likely to be the most [sic] next Prime Minister”.
https://x.com/georgeeaton/status/1988951788108870108
'Alister Jack, as the former Secretary of State for Scotland, used a Section 35 order to block the Scottish Parliament's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from becoming law in January 2023.'
Scottish government to issue bonds.
The message sent by Epstein - who is alleged to have taken the photo - reads: "Yes she [Giuffre] was on my plane and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cglgj08erywo
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/crre8g5e45jo
Might not be the only thing that is falling....out of windows.
Somewhat to my surprise they didn't complain very much about cyclists per se, although one does get a sense that it's somehow [edit!!] seen as part of being a cyclist to do something perverted like that.
Besides, it's a pretty low bar, comparing cyclists to perverts.
https://x.com/politlcsuk/status/1988942794724110850
The Securities and Exchange Commission's database, opens new tab showed Scion's registration status as "terminated" as of November 10. Deregistering would imply the fund is not required to file reports with the regulator or any state.
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/michael-burry-big-short-fame-deregisters-scion-asset-management-2025-11-13/
Fuel duty has raised hundreds of billions from overtaxed drivers.
"Cuts" have not cost a penny. Drivers are a rare, net, overtaxed surplus to the Exchequer not a recipient of money.
Work out the cumulative amount of revenues the taxpayers has received from drivers via fuel duty etc
Work out the cumulative expenditure on the roads etc
Drivers have been fleeced. This supposed cut is nothing of the sort.
It will be possible - I'd imagine a £10k pa liability for a 2 bed terrace worth £100k before attempting this nonsense would be getting close.
I think there are two problems with just letting loony leftism happen and waiting for the voters to throw them out. One is that the resultant bankruptcys will make one heck of a mess (eg would central government end up paying all the redundancy money) and the other is that it's very rough indeed on the unfortunates who happen to live in such areas, but weren't as stupid as to vote for the hard left. People can vote with their feet, but moving home is a big deal, as even then they potentially take a tremendous hit (eg my somewhat tongue in cheek example above, where council tax is raised so high house prices turn negative).
The later costs about £2.4bn a year and has probably benefited the owners of Asda and Morrison’s more than anyone else
Fully expecting luxury taxes on Apple products and expensive footwear.
This is an actively regressive government on transport - even more so when you consider the lack of action of bus services (down 50%) and fares (up 100%).
With the economy in the toilet, fuel duty is one of the stupidest possible taxes to raise.
It might end up with full on Jacqueries, but I just think of that as enthusiastic voter recall
https://x.com/thomasknox
'During his interview with BBC, which was widely considered disastrous for the former prince, he addressed the infamous image, saying. "I have absolutely no memory of that photograph ever being taken."
"Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don’t recollect that photograph ever being taken," Andrew continued.
"From the investigations that we’ve done, you can’t prove whether or not that photograph is faked or not because it is a photograph of a photograph of a photograph," he added.
Prince Andrew Virginia Roberts
Andrew also questioned his attire and the hand placement in the photo. He pointed out that he was wearing "travelling clothes," which he said he wouldn’t have worn for the occasion. In addition, he queried whether the hand on the waist was his own and raised the possibility of photo editing.'
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/epstein-emails-suggest-ex-prince-andrew-photo-virginia-giuffre-authentic-despite-royals-denials
“I’ve been assured it didn’t come from Downing Street, but I’d be equally clear that whether it’s this case or any other, I intend to deal with it. I will absolutely deal with anybody responsible for briefing against ministers, cabinet ministers or other ministers.”
Exclusive: Based on documents viewed by this newsletter, OpenAI spent over $12.4 billion on inference from 2024 to September 2025. As part of its Microsoft revenue share, it sent $493.8m in 2024/$865.8m Jan-Sep 2025, implying lower revenues than previously reported.
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com/post/3m5h36rnjks27
Claude is very good at coding, although I have found it more recently loves to over complicate solutions.
I mean you wouldn't wear the same kind of evening dress for pre-diner drinks on safari as you'd wear if invited to the Captains table on foreign warship, would you?
I’ve found a sense of humour has often bought me an awful lot of goodwill both professionally and personally.
I think people would be much more tolerant of the government's plans if they had such a vision.
Streeting played Downing Street like a violin; Miliband ... well, what did Miliband do ?
It's baffling, disheartening.
The 35-year-old left the field after bowling eight wicketless overs in England’s only warm-up match against the Lions XI at Lilac Hill in Perth.
He will undergo a scan on his left hamstring on Friday and England remain cautiously optimistic that he will be able to bowl again on the final day of their warm-up match on Saturday. But realistically, it seems unlikely he will play in the first Test next week when England have other fully fit bowlers to choose from.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2025/11/13/mark-wood-suffers-ashes-injury-scare-england-warm-up-match/